Try a Peanut Feeder
A number of species may be attracted to your yard with this simple-to-make cylindrical, mesh feeder.
If you are an amateur bird watcher (I am), watching birds at the backyard feeder is the most convenient way of observing the behavior of common species. I do not often make the effort to go out on bird walks, but at our home I am able to identify and study many local birds (the red-bellied woodpecker does have a red belly!) just watching from my kitchen window.
There are so many choices of bird feeders and so many foods for attracting different species that it seems sensible to settle on the kinds that work well in your own area. One of our favorites is the peanut feeder.
I owe the idea for this feeder to my friend, Dr. Sally Spofford. It was my good fortune to work at Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology for about ten years starting in the mid-1960s. From Sally I absorbed much of my limited knowledge of ornithology while learning of the enjoyment and excitement birds could provide.
At Cornell there were many varieties of seed and suet feeders, as well as extensive plantings and habitat to attract birds year-round. Sally had had long experience with satisfying the endless appetites of birds, and this particular peanut feeder hung outside the window of her office. In studying the many bird catalogues that have come my way I have never seen one like it described or advertised. It was invented and produced by friends of Sally's, the late Jim Myers, and his wife Mary Louise.
Anxious to add one of these feeders to our backyard cafeteria, I suggested to my patient husband that he make one. Actually construction was fairly simple, as the accompanying diagram shows.
The feeder is fashioned in the shape of a cylinder, using 1/4-inch-wide wire mesh (E) around two pieces of seasoned hardwood (D and G) having a diameter of 1-3/4 inches to 2 inches. The bottom piece (G) should be tapered as shown so that the peanuts will feed toward the wire as the supply is exhausted. The upper piece (D) is secured to the top plate (B) with nails or screws (not shown). The wire mesh can be stapled directly to the bottom piece (G) but should fit loosely around the top piece (D) for easy removal and refilling. The screen is held in place at the top by two screws (C) that fit into two holes drilled in the top piece; they can be left loose enough for removal with the fingers. The top plate or cap (B) and bottom plate or base (H) can be made from redwood, cedar, or other suitable material of about 1/2 inch thickness. An eye screw or nail (A) can be inserted in the cap for hanging the feeder (out of reach of squirrels!). Finally, fill the feeder with peanuts (F), and watch the action! We use common, roasted peanuts, salted or plain. The birds are not fussy about quality, and our supplies come from such places as supermarkets and discount department stores.
What birds are interested in such a feeder? We had a very successful bird watching season last year, the best in many years. There were several weeks during the end of April and the first week of May that I counted 31 species visiting our property, 15 of which fed on our peanuts. Our feeder hangs from a support near a more usual plastic cylinder sunflower feeder and a dome feeder. I have seen the following species eating from the peanut feeder: red-bellied , downy, and hairy woodpeckers, house finches, goldfinches, cowbirds, cardinals, juncos, evening grosbeaks, chickadees, blue jays, nuthatches, titmice, northern (Baltimore) orioles, and veeries. Not only is it exciting and informative to view these birds close at hand, but it is also interesting to see how they eat -- some take a whole nut and swallow it immediately, whereas others take one to a nearby branch and break it into parts.
Since this much-used peanut feeder has proved so successful for us, I am convinced that next season we will want to add a second one. After all, we want to keep our visitors happy!
Try a Peanut Feeder
Edith Edgerton
BirdWatchersDigest.com
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