Can birds eat salted peanuts
Convenient as it is dangerous, but salted peanuts that are safe for people can never be used to feed wild birds, under any circumstances.
Do NOT feed salted peanuts, coated or roasted nuts for people, as they contain natural toxins that are fetal to common garden birds. Its only possible to offer specialty wild bird peanuts that are unsalted, not roasted but use no coating such as chili or chocolate. And while you at it, no thinking you can wash off salt.
Not only would garden birds happily consume huge amounts of salted peanuts, that is not to say they should be eating it at all.
In fact, there's no doubt about it, to feed our garden birds salted peanuts, would eventually lead to their painful death.
That means you can only offer wild bird peanuts that are unsalted.. and that's all really.
To offer garden birds one or two nuts out of an unsalted nut mix should be fine, but its vital you make sure there's no salted peanuts present.
Go ahead and offer bird peanuts in a hanging peanut feeder, while using peanuts developed for birds - as its not only cheaper but the large bag can go much further.
Small investment to see Robins eat your peanuts, but so to will a number of Tits, Siskins, Chaffinches and the Great Spotted Woodpecker - including the possibility of House Sparrows and other common garden birds.
Birds can NOT eat salted peanuts
Having a bag of salted peanuts to hand can be a quick source of protein you can offer to wild birds, but you should never feed salted peanuts to birds.
While wild birds would eat peanuts up in no time, in reality the small amount of natural toxins that are in peanuts grown in the wild are poisonous.
Its never a matter of one or two salted peanuts won't hurt; understand salted peanuts for people to eat will make garden birds ill, leading to a painful death.
Birds can NOT eat salted peanuts under any circumstances, with specialty peanuts for wild birds only - such as those sold in pet stores.
High in natural toxins always, so that applies to salted or roasted peanuts.
And while you are at it, never feed your birds salt of any kind, nor added salt to certain foods; its not a normal source of food found in the wild so can lead to health difficulties.
Unsalted bird peanuts only
What you can absolutely do is only buy and use unsalted, specialty wild bird peanuts which are the kind to insert in all types of peanut bird feeders.
Unsalted so are plain nuts only, so while you should never attempt to consume nuts developed for wild birds - you wouldn't want too any way as they are completely void of taste, so are tasteless.
Its these peanuts for feeding garden birds you must use only.
As a source of high protein, the peanut mixes would help birds get though the summer and well into the winter.
In order for that to happen the peanuts must be the wild bird peanut kind; as bought in pet shops or pet departments - as sold as wild bird peanuts.
Unsalted peanuts would be eaten up by a wide range of garden bird species, but it can help to replenish the hanging bird feeder - while throwing a handful over the lawn to make them accessible to ground feeding birds.
Removing salt coating is a no-go
While your at it, as well has never feeding regular, made for people salted nuts to birds in your garden - its never safe to remove salt or special coatings off the peanut.
Salt absorbs into the peanut as they are roasted and stand for some time, so by thinking its safe to wash off salt - all salt content can never be removed completely - thus peanuts will always remain poisonous to birds.
Unfortunately, that also applies to peanuts sold in other forms, such as regular peanut butter can not be fed to birds, unless its specialty wild bird peanut butter.
Similarly, peanuts coated in sweet chili or BBQ mixes are dangerous, but so to if feeding peanuts to gardens birds that contain chocolate - which is also poisonous.
Only offer garden birds unsalted peanuts then, but there's certainly no harm in offering raisins to wild birds if they come out of an unsalted fruit and nut mix.
Likewise, you can offer small garden birds all types of nut mixes, such as Walnuts or Cashews - providing they are the unsalted kind.
Cheaper to buy specialty peanuts
Rather than be tempting with the prospect of feeding garden birds unsalted peanuts, but never the salted kind - it would indeed be cheaper to buy the specialty peanuts.
What that means is a big cost-saving for you, as the need to replenish the classic peanut feeder requires a little amount - but more so if you are offering nuts in a peanut wreath feeder - or a larger nut feeder for hanging.
Single bags of unsalted specialty peanuts can be bought anywhere, including pet shops or the supermarket, so you have an option to buy a small bag to refill the feeder once, or why not buy a bulk buy peanut bag to last for weeks.
Peanuts developed for wild birds don't have much done to them, so pretty much get packaged as soon as they are pulled off the land.
Whereas only a small bag of KP peanuts can cost an arm and leg, where a cheaper bag of bird peanuts can be used - which happen to be far more healthier any way.
So to is it cheaper to buy peanut butter for garden birds, rather than using the more dangerous, people peanut butter in a jar.
Summary
You must never feed regular salted peanuts to wild birds, as they contain a small amount of natural toxins, in which are going to be poisonous to precise garden birds.
No getting away with it or seeing a recovery either, once you feed birds salted peanuts, that would be the end of them. Never feed peanuts developed for people then as they are guaranteed to kill.
Unsalted peanuts in small amounts might be OK if its the people kind, but you should play it safe in buying a bag of wild bird peanuts.
Developed for garden birds so there's no risks involved, but so to are they cheaper to buy for a large amount of peanuts.
No shortcuts to offering salted peanuts either if you are thinking about washing off salt content, as salt would always be present.
Buy wild bird peanuts only then which are not very tasty for us, but a huge number of common garden birds absolutely love them.
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