Do Birds Eat Nuts? How to Safely Feed Nuts to Birds

What Types of Birds Eat Nuts?

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For Amber Lush of Burkmann Nutrition’s Bird Seed Divison, feeding birds changed the way she looks at nuts. “Even when I’m at the grocery store, now I think about which birds could eat the nuts if they didn’t have salt on them,” she says. “Blue jays love them. Woodpeckers love them. Nuthatches, chickadees and titmice will carry some off too.”

Sunflower seed is the most universal birdseed, but adding nuts to the mix can increase the variety of species visiting your backyard. “Birds love the high fat content,” Amber says.

Best Bird Feeders for Nuts

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Whole in-shell peanuts can be offered up in either special feeders or open trays, according to Amber. A flock of Steller’s jays or blue jays can empty out a tray feeder quickly as they haul off the seeds, but ring and mesh-wire feeders can slow them down as the birds work each peanut out of the stack individually.

Out-of-the-shell peanuts and chopped tree nuts “work in just about any type, including hoppers and tube feeders,” Amber says. Once removed from the shells, “nuts are great in no-mess mixes,” she adds. The birds eat everything up, leaving nothing behind. Peanuts are an obvious nut choice, but many seed blends also include a mix of unsalted chopped tree nuts. According to Amber, these blends can include everything from almonds, pecans and walnuts to cashews, macadamias and pistachios.

Every tree can be a feeder with spreadable suets or nut butters. Smearing them onto a tree trunk is an easy way to offer up the high-fat treats. Even birds that don’t eat bigger pieces of nuts might nibble off bits of the spread.

Birds That Dine on Nuts and Dash

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“Nuthatches, chickadees and titmice rarely eat right at the feeders,” Amber says. “Instead they’ll either fly off with the feed and eat it or store it somewhere for later. Fall is especially the season for caching seed as the birds get ready for winter.” Clark’s nutcrackers, for example, can haul off dozens of pine nuts by storing them in their sublingual pouch, a special pocket behind their tongues.

Before being bagged and sold, peanuts and other nuts are tested for aflatoxins, fungi-produced toxins that are harmful in large amounts, but you’ll want to keep all of your offerings nice and dry. “When moisture gets in the feeders, you get that heated, wet environment that creates problems,” Amber says. An important tip she recommends: “Put out smaller amounts of feed during summer months so it doesn’t get wet and moldy. In the winter, it’s colder and the birds are eating more.”

Nuts Also Attract Squirrels

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Sometimes whole in-shell peanuts are offered to other backyard critters. “Squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons and, in certain parts of the world, bears will all eat nuts,” Amber says. She’s also seen opossums and skunks cleaning up the ground underneath her own feeders.

Using pole baffles is the easiest way to ensure that birds are eating the nuts and that squirrels and other mammals aren’t. Some squirrel-proof feeders can also accommodate chopped nuts. However, if you decide you’d like to feed other backyard wildlife such as squirrels, peanuts are an option to help keep the peace.

About The Expert

Amber Lush works for Burkmann Nutrition’s Bird Seed Division. Burkmann Nutrition is a feed supply provider that offers high-quality, nutritious feed for farm livestock, dogs, cats, and wild birds.

Sources

• Science Daily – High Aflatoxin Levels In Wild Bird Feed
• U.S. Food & Drug Administration
• National Cancer Institute – Aflatoxins
• All About Birds – How Clark’s Nutcrackers Find Buried Seeds Under a Blanket of Snow