Peanut butter for birds
Feed high in protein peanut butter intended for wild birds, you'd be surprised just how popular it is as they forget about all other feeds you have hanging up.
Peanut butter for birds are available in glass jars, made to be inserted in a bird feeder for use with the peanut butter, or simply lay the jar on the side to allow garden birds to help themselves. You can scoop the contents on a tray or lid to feed birds, or smother it on a blank wooden board.
You're not limited to the way you feed peanut butter to wild birds in your garden, leave it to your imagination to find a way to present it to them in your garden.
It will take little effort on your part mind you as wild birds tend to take to eating peanut butter out of the jar with little resistance.
What you need to do is present it to them in a way that will keep the birds safe, well positioning the peanut butter out of direct sunlight, and out of heat to prevent melting.
All types of common garden birds are likely to take to it; Robins, the Tit family, Sparrows, Wrens, Woodpeckers, Jays and Nuthatches... among other species.
Consider making use of a bird feeder made for peanut butter, its possible to get up and running in no time as the jars slip in and out.
Well that is limited to certain brands being only compatible with there own products, you can try a universal feeder for all types of jar designs and sizes.
That's known as a wooden peanut butter house; made from wood with an angled roof for cover, then an upside down ledge to sit the jars on.
Remember, peanut butter developed for wild birds is not safe to consume by people, likewise, human developed, salted peanut butter is not safe for wild birds.
For wild birds, not people
Well peanut butter presents an ingenious way to feed wild birds something they will absolutely love, its also a food that is not safe for people.
Under no circumstances should you ever, even a little bit, attempt to try peanut butter for birds. Its not safe for human consumption so is likely to cause you harm.
Peanut butter is harmless to people, but the ingredients have been formulated for a wild birds diet.
Its also further developed to attract wild birds, so there's additional ingredients added.
On top of that, peanut butter intended for birds is unsalted, so it won't be sweat or nice tasting for you, so another reason not to eat it yourself.
That's not true for all brands as ingredients vary from on to the next, but its an unnecessary risk to be trying something intended for wildlife.
Don't be tempted to feed your own peanut butter to wild birds out of your own cupboard.
People peanut butter is extremely salty with high levels of ingredients that are not safe for wild birds, and salt being the most harmful.
Wild bird peanut butter is unsalted, and is one of the reasons it targeted for birds.
Benefits of peanut butter
Peanut butter is extremely nutritious for wild birds, being high in protein the most important factor, well manufacturers may add additional ingredients to benefit them.
Wild birds will usually get there intake of protein from the peanuts left out in the feeder.
Its also possible to get high protein from nuts and fruits grown in the wild, but there's time of the year that will prevent them.
Did you know when birds who feed there young back in the nest, peanuts can cause a choking hazard, so use of peanuts during the spring, summer time is discouraged.
Therefore, you can make up the difference by using a smooth peanut butter the birds can safely feed to there chicks - making sure they still get that all important protein.
Wild birds need protein during the summer so its essential to feed it to them you deem necessary, but it must be in a safe manner.
As peanut butter is high in fat, it should be couraged to feed it them in the winter time as they store fat content to survive the cold months.
On top of that, peanut butter is sure to give them the energy they need all year round.
Outside with unscrewed lid
If you're going down the route of feeding wild birds in your garden with peanut butter directly from the jar - with no bird feeder for peanut butter, then make it a screw lid.
As a matter of fact, all peanut butter lids should be the screw kind, which is just as well has it will help you keep it fresh until used.
When locating an area in your garden to leave out the jar on its side, make it so that it has a perch area on the front for birds to eat from.
Its not necessary to position the jar on its side at first, and it can be stood upright for birds to perch around the rim.
Then its time to place it on its side as the peanut butter is swallowed up - and quite quickly in normal circumstances - so birds can reach in far more easier.
Peanut butter jar with feeder in mind
If you want to its possible to buy a set of peanut butter jars with a specialty peanut butter feeder in mind.
Well the Flutter Butter bird feeders are designed with there own peanut butter jars, its possible to use a universal feeder that are compatible with all jar designs.
When using the Flutter Butter variety, the jar will simply slide into the hanging or mounted feeder from the rear, thus exposing the open jar at the front where birds feed.
Wild birds don't need a jar and would be happy to perch around the rim of feeder or jar, though its possible a multitude of feeders will have a perch they can use.
If not using the Flutter Butter brand - which is the most well known - then turn your focus on manufacturers that build wooden housing to hold peanut butter jars.
Simple housed feeder that has an angled roof to keep the rain off well offering a little shelter from direct sunshine.
Beneath this covered housing - it will look a little like an open fronted bird box - is again, a angled, upside down ledge.
That lege is used to hold a multitude of jars; short or fat, wide or thin, it doesn't matter, it should hold on with ease. Well the angle of the legde will prevent the said jar from rolling
Its then over to you to either hang up the Flutter Butter bird feeder with use of chains on the bird feeding station or wall bracket.
Well universal wooden peanut butter jar holders are made to be mounted on a wall or fence post.
Sunshine or heat issues
There are down sides to using peanut butter intended for wild birds, and that's the heat of the sun causing issues with the feed.
When peanut butter is left out in direct sunlight, not only will this cause the feed to go stale under the unpleasant heat, but the water will separate from the ingredients.
In sort of a melting process that won't really rot peanut butter, but the juices of the peanut butter will melt, thus forming puddles in the jar, or dripping onto the ground.
That's not an issue limited to direct sunlight either, heat is the real problem here.
During the summer months the heat throughout the day will cause such melting issues, and whether its in the sun or not, you can't escape the heat.
You can do one of couple of things here to keep the peanut butter in good condition.
For starters, why bother using the peanut butter in the heat if its going to cause you so much trouble, so wait until the cooler days come around.
Another thing you can do is locate the peanut butter - the jar or feeder - in a shaded area that is guarantee to be cool, and not hot at all.
Roll up seed mix in peanut butter
You're not limited to using peanut butter is jars for its intended purpose; to feed the peanut butter directly to wild birds from out of the jar.
Its possible to scoop out the contents and mix it in with there bird food.
One thing that is possible is to make use of a small rounded piece of wood from the garden, or use a decent twig from the hedgerow.
Here, you'd want to smother the stick in lots of sticky peanut butter, then roll it in seeds.
You can spread the seeds out on a flat surface to roll the stick on, or you can simply sprinkle the seeds on the stick by hand to cause less mess.
What you want to do is repeat this process of rolling seeds in peanut butter over and over again until you get a thick, lollipop stick made up of peanut butter and seeds.
You can go one better by rolling in extra dry crushed peanuts. This method is useful if you can't get rid of there current feed, but it'll soon be eaten once is covered in peanut butter.
Present to wild birds on tray
So one way to present peanut butter in the jar is just that, unscrew the lid and let them help themselves to the contents.
That's not for everyone mind you, nor is it for wild birds that refuse to eat from the jar... the fussy beggars.
What you would need to so is remove the peanut butter from the jar and scoop it onto a surface that birds will take to.
One item you can use is the bird feeding tray, the hanging or mounted kind that is usually present on a bird feeding station.
Clean it beforehand then scoop tablespoons of peanut butter on in a pile.
Then sit back and wait until the birds take to it, it might be a while but keep an eye on things as you don't want to attract cats or nuisance birds.
Locating the dish or tray near to the ground might keep them away, do make sure the tray is hanging up high or as far up the wall on the mounted dish as possible.
If you want to go one better, smooshing peanut butter on a blank mounted wooden board should allow small garden birds to eat in complete safety.
Smoosh on wooden board
Your only objective is to feed peanut butter to birds that will encourage them to feed, rather than setting up once without success, then giving up.
That would then mean you going down the route of smothering peanut butter on a surface.
And well that can mean any from a brick wall, fence post or even a tree trunk, doing so will be to messy, so we need something to smother the peanut butter on.
That's where making use of a planned piece of untreated wood plank will have it use.
Make it so the plank of wood in question is not treated in preserve, nor under any circumstances painted or stained.
Well birds eat peanut butter spread directly onto the wooden board, we don't want to risk the bird either ingesting paint, or the paint itself rubbing onto the sticky peanut butter.
Solution this wooden board method is a 6 by 12 inch piece of wood that you can mount on a wall or fence post, but never to a tree as we don't want to drill holes into the trunk.
To summarise
When using peanut butter intended for use by birds, never be tempting to ingest it yourself as its very unlikely to be safe for human consumption.
Unsalted is the key for a safe and healthy peanut butter for birds, well other ingredients may be added to benefit birds in more ways than one.
Peanut butter for birds always come in a jar, and well its likely to be a glass one, its possible to be plastic.
However, if its available in glass take extra care as to not let it drop to the ground, if it does it will smash to pieces well risking the birds ingesting glass.
You can make use of a jar of peanut butter that is compatible with a feeder from the manufacturer, such as Flutter Butter.
We also recommend you try a wooden bird feeder that is designed to hold peanut butter jars in a way as to prevent it from rolling, well keeping it covered from the elements.
Birds will have little issue feeding from trays, as they're perfectly capable of perching around the rim of the jar, or making use of a perch that is often fixed to the feeder.
No feeders are needed as you can lay the jar on the side on a flat surface for birds.
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