Best food for robins? peanuts?
Jane
> Our birds love
> it! Some birds - blackbirds and robins, chaffinches etc like to
> feed from a flat surface, not hanging off a feeder.
> I hope that helps a little, but try to read up a bit about the
> types of birds you are trying to attract. Where you place the
> food can be as important if not more important than the actual
> type of food.
>
I had a robin on my feeder/suet ball the other day. I was very
pleased. I wanted to make sure he came back so I was checking to see
what robins preferred to eat.
Am I right in thinking that robins like *peanuts* in particular and
probably like them even more than sunflower hearts?
delc...@mail.ab.edu
Robins don't eat seeds. I have never seen one at a feeder. Mealworms
might work.
The robin at the suet ball was after the fat, not the seeds.
J. Del Col
UkJay
"Jane" <ja...@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:Xns976DBA5...@81.174.50.80...
Hi Jane
The Robins here go for fat balls in a fat ball feeder & also a half coconut
filled with fat/seed/??
I haven't seen them use the seed feeders, but they do seem to peck around
below where the
seed feeders hang.
If you check out the size of the beak this gives a good indication of what
birds eat
I haven't seen a Robin tackle peanuts here .......
The RSPB Pocket Birds book does say they feed on
spiders,insects,worms,berries, and seeds
mostly from the ground.
--
James (ukjay)
http://www.ukjay.co.uk
Garden WebCam
http://tv.earthcam.com/channel/video.php?channel=823164
Garden WebCam Guestbook/Message Portal
http://www.ukjay.co.uk/cgi-bin/guestbook.pl
Jane
>> I had a robin on my feeder/suet ball the other day. I was very
>> pleased. I wanted to make sure he came back so I was checking
>> to see what robins preferred to eat.
>>
>> Am I right in thinking that robins like *peanuts* in particular
>> and probably like them even more than sunflower hearts?
>
> Hi Jane
>
> The Robins here go for fat balls in a fat ball feeder & also a
> half coconut filled with fat/seed/??
> I haven't seen them use the seed feeders, but they do seem to
> peck around below where the
> seed feeders hang.
> If you check out the size of the beak this gives a good
> indication of what birds eat
> I haven't seen a Robin tackle peanuts here .......
> The RSPB Pocket Birds book does say they feed on
> spiders,insects,worms,berries, and seeds
> mostly from the ground.
Ah, ok. Maybe the robin rested on my feeder as the seut ball is
right beside it!
But this makes me ask another question:
I have a feeder with mixed seed in it. In fact one on each side
of the flat. Is it worth having another feeder right beside the
mixed seed feeder but the seocnd feeder contains something like
peanuts?
Or is this overkill? In a way I hope it might be overkill as it
gives me twice as many bird feeders to look after! :-)
And yet I don't want to exclude birds which might have different
feeding preferences.
I'm not into very specialised seed mixes as at the moment I am
trying to get the hang of getting the birds to come for food at
all.
So do I need a second feeder? What goes into it?
Christina Websell
> Jane wrote:
>> On 19 Jan 2006, Ono Nottim wrote:
>>
>>> Our birds love
>>> it! Some birds - blackbirds and robins, chaffinches etc like to
>>> feed from a flat surface, not hanging off a feeder.
>>> I hope that helps a little, but try to read up a bit about the
>>> types of birds you are trying to attract. Where you place the
>>> food can be as important if not more important than the actual
>>> type of food.
>>>
>>
>> I had a robin on my feeder/suet ball the other day. I was very
>> pleased. I wanted to make sure he came back so I was checking to see
>> what robins preferred to eat.
>>
>> Am I right in thinking that robins like *peanuts* in particular and
>> probably like them even more than sunflower hearts?
>
>
> Robins don't eat seeds. I have never seen one at a feeder.
I bought a new seed feeder a few weeks ago. It has 4 holes and perches. I
filled it with 50% canary seed and 50% sunflower hearts. The robin here is
so keen on the sf hearts that s/he can now perch and get, that all other
birds are driven away.
You may have never seen a robin at a feeder, so you state that robins do not
eat seeds. That is your experience, mine is different.
I might as well say that sparrowhawks never eat anything except collared
doves. That has been my experience.
That's because the sparrowhawk that comes here is female.
I have never seen a sparrowhawk take anything smaller than a collared dove.
This must mean that they never do ;-)
Tina
bthache
ones over there like the great spotted. They may just come to a feeder with
peanuts in it. Woodpeckers here go crazy for anything with peanuts or (in
my case) a log smeared with peanut butter.
And when it comes to the number of feeders one has? From one who has 8
feeders going plus loose seed I throw out........ there's no such thing as
overkill!! ;)
--
Tammie
North of Lake Superior in Ontario
http://community.webshots.com/user/thache
"Jane" <ja...@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:Xns976DC9D...@81.174.50.80...
Jane
>
> I've got 6 feeders on the go - one has black sunflower seeds,
> another sunflower hearts, two have niger/nyjer seeds for the
> goldfinches, although other finches like them too if they can
> get at them, there's one with peanuts in which are chopped up in
> the food processor to make them small. A final feeder has 4 suet
> balls in it. There are two dishes at varying heights with seed
> and peanuts in and more seed gets scattered on the ground -
> chaffinches prefer it like this. There are two birdbaths as well
> as a small garden pond.
Your birds are very lucky!
Do you give the birds a menu when them come to the garden and tell
them what's on offer and also alert them to today's special! :-)
UkJay
Hi Jane
I am new to this as well m8, If you look on my Garden WebCam you will see
that I have two feeders side by side 1 is a seed feeder and the other is a
peanut feeder.
The seed feeder gets the most hits (pardon the pun)
But I have seen a chaffinch tackle the peanut feeder!
I would use the trial & error method, and also don't forget that while you
are not
observing there may be visits ;-)
I do think it is worth regularly cleaning/replenishing the feeders even if
you have to sling
some of the food.
I also put mixed seed down on the lawn as well at the moment.
My wife also hung a half coconut fat feeder at the front of the house by the
bay window
so we could see the action etc.
Mysteriously the food was devoured by some unknown creature for a few weeks
Then recently she spotted the visitor a little field mouse!
She now has removed the feeder :-)
--
Best Regards,
James (ukjay)
Garden WebCam,Photography,Competitions,Weather (AWS)
Bill Alexander
If posting is to continue to rec.birds and
***UK***rec.birdwatching(which I am very much in favour of) you will
have to note the
X Pond variations, e.g. Robin, Buzzard etc.
We of course are correct :-)
Bill....
dylan
> Robins don't eat seeds. I have never seen one at a feeder. Mealworms
> might work.
>
> The robin at the suet ball was after the fat, not the seeds.
>
> J. Del Col
>
Robins in our garden eat seeds.
take a look at http://www.knighttrain.freeserve.co.uk/birds.htm 4th pic from
the bottom.
Cheers
cardarch
american robins eat at feeders. Do you have a photo of your robin I
wonder?
Christina Websell
"cardarch" <doro...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1140272056....@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Arent english robin different birds than american robins? I dont think
> american robins eat at feeders. Do you have a photo of your robin I
> wonder?
You can see an English robin here:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/issues/2003/bio12a.asp
HTH
Tina
Doctor J. Frink
>Robins in our garden eat seeds.
>
>take a look at http://www.knighttrain.freeserve.co.uk/birds.htm 4th pic from
>the bottom.
Ours (when we had some) loved porridge oats. They'd also take fat balls
if they'd been knocked down by bigger birds/pests.
Frink
--
Doctor J. Frink : 'Rampant Ribald Ringtail'
See his mind here : http://www.cmp.liv.ac.uk/frink/
Annoy his mind here : pjf at cmp dot liv dot ack dot ook
"No sir, I didn't like it!" - Mr Horse
delc...@mail.ab.edu
Christina Websell wrote:
> delc...@mail.ab.edu wrote:
> >>
> I might as well say that sparrowhawks never eat anything except collared
> doves. That has been my experience.
> That's because the sparrowhawk that comes here is female.
> I have never seen a sparrowhawk take anything smaller than a collared dove.
> This must mean that they never do ;-)
Are you in the UK or America?
I don't know anybody who has Amercian robins coming to seed feeders.
If you do, that's exceptional.
J. Del Col
delc...@mail.ab.edu
dylan wrote:
> > Robins don't eat seeds. I have never seen one at a feeder. Mealworms
> > might work.
> >
> > The robin at the suet ball was after the fat, not the seeds.
> >
> > J. Del Col
> >
>
> Robins in our garden eat seeds.
Are you in the UK? What British robins eat is one thing. What
American robins eat is another.
I should have asked the OP what species of robin she meant.
J. Del Col
dylan
> Are you in the UK? What British robins eat is one thing. What
> American robins eat is another.
>
> I should have asked the OP what species of robin she meant.
>
>
> J. Del Col
>
yes, UK.
Cheers
Christina Websell
<delc...@mail.ab.edu> wrote in message
news:1140276503.4...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> Christina Websell wrote:
>> delc...@mail.ab.edu wrote:
>> >>
>> I might as well say that sparrowhawks never eat anything except collared
>> doves. That has been my experience.
>> That's because the sparrowhawk that comes here is female.
>> I have never seen a sparrowhawk take anything smaller than a collared
>> dove.
>> This must mean that they never do ;-)
>
>
> Are you in the UK or America?
UK
>
> I don't know anybody who has Amercian robins coming to seed feeders.
> If you do, that's exceptional.
Nah, no American robins here, just English ones who mainly like live prey
too.
What do American robins eat? I've looked at photos of them, they look like
a kind of thrush.
Tina
Jerry Avins
Raisins and grape halves (why halves? For any other bird, getting at the
peanuts means fighting off the jays and grackles.
Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Jerry Avins
> What do American robins eat? I've looked at photos of them, they look like
> a kind of thrush.
When the ground is soft, they are the early birds that get the worms.
They eat fruit berries, cherries sometimes, and so forth. They can be
coaxed to eat raisins (I never tried currants) out of ones hand, but
they are primarily ground feeders as far as I know. It is a thrush.
Christina Websell
"MCC" <mcc...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:11t48nq81532c$.2npc31x5f69b.dlg@40tude.net...
> --
> MCC
You don't say!! Well, knock me down with a feather!
You can't get away with that - my father was from Kilmarnock ;-)
Jerry Avins
We are two peoples divided by a common language. See
http://www.santafebotanicalgarden.org/NAmerican%20Robin%20copy.jpg
Anne Burgess
>> http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/issues/2003/bio12a.asp
>> HTH
>> Tina
> Now isn't that strange? That's exactly the same as the Scottish robins ;-)
> MCC
Oddly enough, it looks the same as French ones too, and German ones, and
Dutch ones and ..... and .....
Anne
Anne Burgess
-- >> I might as well say that sparrowhawks never eat anything except
collared
>> doves. That has been my experience.
>> That's because the sparrowhawk that comes here is female.
>> I have never seen a sparrowhawk take anything smaller than a collared
>> dove.
>> This must mean that they never do ;-)
Well I have never actually seen one kill anything larger than a Siskin -
though I did once come across one devouring a Feral Pigeon.
Anne
Nick
> Robins don't eat seeds. I have never seen one at a feeder. Mealworms
> might work.
>
> The robin at the suet ball was after the fat, not the seeds.
I have seen a Robin at the peanut feeder and the suet cup at my sisters... I even
managed to photograph it and will be posting the image to my site in the not too
distant future...
--
Nick in Northallerton
Also @ www.whelan.me.uk
And nickw7coc on
Yahoo & MSN
but I use http://www.trillian.cc as I like it better
also on Skype and Google talk
Ron Hardin
They'll kill for blueberries, but once you teach them about raisins,
they ignore blueberries.
They have to be on the ground (tossing them there will attract a
crowd of Robins once you get them used to the idea, like pigeons).
You can twisty-tie a bunch of grapes to a tree, in this season
of $.88/lb grapes from Chile; green (``white'') grapes are less
attractive to starlings, which is a plus. The trouble is that grapes
freeze.
I once dug a worm out in a hard freeze and snow, and laid it out
on the driveway in a spot I cleared, and a Robin couldn't believe
his luck within 5 minutes, and gobbled the worm up. That's more
trouble that you might want to take.
--
Ron Hardin
rhha...@mindspring.com
On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.
Malcolm Kane
delc...@mail.ab.edu writes
>
>Jane wrote:
>> On 19 Jan 2006, Ono Nottim wrote:
>>
>> > Our birds love
>> > it! Some birds - blackbirds and robins, chaffinches etc like to
>> > feed from a flat surface, not hanging off a feeder.
>> > I hope that helps a little, but try to read up a bit about the
>> > types of birds you are trying to attract. Where you place the
>> > food can be as important if not more important than the actual
>> > type of food.
>> >
>>
>> I had a robin on my feeder/suet ball the other day. I was very
>> pleased. I wanted to make sure he came back so I was checking to see
>> what robins preferred to eat.
>>
>> Am I right in thinking that robins like *peanuts* in particular and
>> probably like them even more than sunflower hearts?
>
>
>might work.
Interesting. I have one which visits the bird table regularly I wonder
what it picks up. There is only seed on there.
>
>The robin at the suet ball was after the fat, not the seeds.
>
>J. Del Col
>
--
Malcolm Kane
Mike Coon
> They have to be on the ground (tossing them there will attract a
> crowd of Robins once you get them used to the idea, like pigeons).
There's a giveaway! Your European Robin is never seen in numbers above two
together (and then only after a careful approach) unless they are sharing a
nest and pretty much too young to keep their distance. A flocking species
they are not!
Mike.
--
If reply address = connectfee, add an r because it is free not fee.
Jane
There are some lovely pictures there!
Jane
> dylan wrote:
>>>Robins don't eat seeds. I have never seen one at a feeder.
>>>Mealworms might work.
>>>
>>>The robin at the suet ball was after the fat, not the seeds.
>>>
>>>J. Del Col
>>>
>>
>>
>> Robins in our garden eat seeds.
>>
>> take a look at http://www.knighttrain.freeserve.co.uk/birds.htm
>> 4th pic from the bottom.
>
> We are two peoples divided by a common language. See
> http://www.santafebotanicalgarden.org/NAmerican%20Robin%
> 20copy.jpg
>
Hmmm. I don't mean to be prejudiced but I prefer the appearance
of British robin.
Does the American robin sing as beautifully as the British robin?
Jane
>
> Hi Jane
> I am new to this as well m8, If you look on my Garden WebCam you
> will see that I have two feeders side by side 1 is a seed feeder
> and the other is a peanut feeder.
A garden bird webcam? Oh!
That is too much. I just adore the idea. Such a great use of a
webcam. It had never even occurred to me.
Michael J Davis
>Ron Hardin wrote:
>> They have to be on the ground (tossing them there will attract a
>> crowd of Robins once you get them used to the idea, like pigeons).
>
>
>There's a giveaway! Your European Robin is never seen in numbers above two
>together (and then only after a careful approach) unless they are sharing a
>nest and pretty much too young to keep their distance. A flocking species
>they are not!
Did anyone mention mealworms?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/watchman/82529888
Mike
[The reply-to address is valid for 30 days from this posting]
--
Michael J Davis
<><
Some newsgroup contributors appear to have confused
the meaning of "discussion" with "digression".
<><
Jerry Avins
...
> Hmmm. I don't mean to be prejudiced but I prefer the appearance
> of British robin.
Eye of the beholder! :-)
> Does the American robin sing as beautifully as the British robin?
I hadn't thought of it as beautiful, but it's one of the cheeriest
sounds I know.
bthache
enjoy it's song throughout the whole summer. :)
--
Tammie
North of Lake Superior in Ontario
http://community.webshots.com/user/thache
"Jerry Avins" <j...@ieee.org> wrote in message
news:7JednZ8uieY3q2be...@rcn.net...
Paul Murray
> I have a feeder with mixed seed in it. In fact one on each side
> of the flat. Is it worth having another feeder right beside the
> mixed seed feeder but the seocnd feeder contains something like
> peanuts?
>
> Or is this overkill? In a way I hope it might be overkill as it
> gives me twice as many bird feeders to look after! :-)
>
> And yet I don't want to exclude birds which might have different
> feeding preferences.
>
> I'm not into very specialised seed mixes as at the moment I am
> trying to get the hang of getting the birds to come for food at
> all.
>
> So do I need a second feeder? What goes into it?
We have several different feeders in the garden, and get quite different
birds on some of them.
The main grouping is to the left of the garden, and has a sunflower heart
feeder, a peanut feeder, a couple of fat balls and a coconut half.
Mainly visited by blue tits, great tits, green finches and starlings (for
the coconut, fat balls and peanuts, haven't seen them on the sunflower
hearts.) We get (UK) robins, occasional pidgeons and a single marsh tit
cleaning up underneath.
Further away on the right of the garden we have a thistle seed feeder. This
gets the occasional gold finch, *lots* of siskins, green finches and
redpolls. The siskins also visit the sunflower feeder, the others don't.
Oh, and the squirrels love the sunflower seeds :)