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Even with winter approaching, you may be able to bring more birds to your feeders with leftover snacks. Most varieties of nuts, including pecans, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts, pistachios, brazil nuts, pine nuts, cashews, and hickory nuts, are considered a tasty treat by feathered friends and are also nutritious. In the winter, sources of fat and protein become less available to birds, but nuts are packed with nutrients that help them make it through cold weather. Depending on the type of nut you fill your feeders with, you could attract blue jays, chickadees, woodpeckers, mockingbirds, thrashers, robins, and even wild turkeys. If you put out peanuts, you could also spot some wrens, songbirds, cardinals, and sparrows.
Nuts can be served to these animals raw or roasted, but it’s crucial that the food isn’t salted, seasoned, or coated with anything. Salt and other flavoring can be unhealthy for birds and could prove fatal over time. Providing nuts will likely also attract squirrels, but there are ways to deter them from your feeders.
How to feed nuts to birds
While some larger birds, such as blue jays, can open the shells of nuts without much effort, other birds may have more trouble. Whole nuts are certainly a good option for feathered friends, but serving shelled nuts alongside nuts that have been broken into small pieces will provide better access for more varieties of birds. While these snacks can be a great food source for birds, it’s a good idea to continue putting out regular bird seed along with nuts to ensure your visitors have a well-rounded diet. Only giving small amounts of nuts at a time will also help prevent the food from spoiling.
Platform and tray feeders can easily accommodate these crunchy treats, but there are also special feeders for nuts, like this hanging cage for whole peanuts from Amazon. Wire mesh feeders are also a good choice, as well as tube feeders as long as the opening is large enough.
Keeping squirrels away from your nuts
Squirrels are extremely attracted to nuts, and if you offer this type of food in your feeders, it’s important to keep the area safe for birds. Cages and baffles, which attach to poles to stop squirrels from climbing up to the feeders, can help deter these rodents from trying to steal from your feeders. Additionally, it can be beneficial to actually offer nuts to the animals. By making a small area where squirrels can easily access a few of the protein-packed foods, they are more likely to leave your birds alone.
While squirrels are rather harmless creatures, they may frighten birds from visiting your feeders and they can also cause your feeders to break. By keeping squirrels away, you’ll allow more birds to stop by and have a meal without worry. If you want to naturally provide nuts for birds and other animals, try planting trees that produce nuts, such as beech trees.
