When people are looking for suitable bird food to put in their garden feeders, nuts are a very common choice alongside seeds.
They can also be an excellent one, because they are nutritious, but there are some things you should remember.
Take steps to prevent choking
Birds love nuts, but peanuts can potentially put young and/or small birds at risk of choking.
This will be particularly true when they are newly born during the spring and summer, but you can avoid it by putting split peanuts in your feeders at those times. These will be easier for the birds to swallow.
Provide the correct feeder
It is possible to get special peanut feeders, and you should always do so if you want to provide these nuts for birds in your garden.
That is because the nuts are too big to be accessible to the birds from standard seed feeders. There are also ones that are squirrel proof, if those animals prove to be a pest.
Offer water, too
Birds that are eating wild food like nuts will usually have to drink higher volumes of water compared with ones that have an insect-based diet. Therefore, make sure you put plenty of water out alongside your feeders full of nuts.
Use unsalted only
Never put salted peanuts in your feeders. Salt is bad for garden birds, and they are also not very fond of the taste of it. Try to stick to natural peanuts that do not come with any sort of additional flavouring or anything coating them.
Sticking to the above tips will ensure your garden visitors or kept happy, safe and well-fed throughout the year.
