Red peanut feeders

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Can anybody help? i'm trying to find a red peanut feeder, not the mesh bags but a proper metal one i've seen them before but can't find them anywhere. Does anybody have an idea where i can find one?

The reason being, we don't have a huge amount of blue Tit, great tit etc. And i can't get them to come to a standard dull feeder, but they will visit a red mesh bag I just want a proper metal one as a long term feeder

[eeyore]

CJ wildbird foods do one - look here CJ WildBird Foods - Peanut Feeders however many birds are colour blind so you may find that the bag is attracting them based on shape , smell, texture or some other factor

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Thanks Eeyore, i've seen them before when the actual metal mesh is Red aswell i'm sure that a red colour will stand out from the colour of the tree's that the feeder is hanging in, more so than a normal green feeder

[eeyore]

there is an entirely red one on here Tube Feeders: featuring the new Bouncer by Vari Crafts It is the Bird quest spiral peanut feeder about halfway down - however this is an american site and they are not cheap.

I can't see any reason why you couldn't paint a bog standard one so long as you used non toxic paint designed for toys

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

You're probably right eeyore, that'd probably be the best way to do it

[Diane E]

Hi Lincs Yellowbelly. I have a red mesh feeder - actually a scrap feeder and the tits seem to love it. I got mine from my local garden centre but they have them at cj wilds too...

CJ WildBird Foods - More Feeders (here its called original basket feeder)

I think the tits especially like them because the bottom is mesh too - so they can hang upside down if they feel that way inclined!

I have mine up and ready hoping to attract a siskin next year some time (I'm well prepared!)

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

That absolutly excellent and exactly what i'm after, thanks a lot Diane

[Paul mabbott]

Is there any reason to think that red is better than any other colour? I have red and green ones and have never seen any difference in reaction by the birds. Birds generally are quite wary of anything new or unusual so I would have thought that they might be put off by something in an 'unnatural' colour - but I've no evidence of that!

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

Thanks Eeyore, i've seen them before when the actual metal mesh is Red aswell i'm sure that a red colour will stand out from the colour of the tree's that the feeder is hanging in, more so than a normal green feeder

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

The only experience i have is my personal experience of the birds in my garden. We had a green peanut feeder up for years and it hardly ever got used, in fact i never really saw any Blue Tits or great tits in the garden. I put a red mesh bag up around 3 weeks ago and since then we have had Blue and Greats regularly using it

I tried red thinking that if the Blue/great tits are quite scarce around here then maybe the obviously colour may attract them

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, an interesting subject, what makes birds go to any feeder? How do they find it in the first place and how do they remember it? My feeling is that they just ramble around and try everything - when they find a good place then some of them come back. It only needs one tit to find a feeder then other follow it! On the other hand, some birds feed but never return ....

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

The only experience i have is my personal experience of the birds in my garden. We had a green peanut feeder up for years and it hardly ever got used, in fact i never really saw any Blue Tits or great tits in the garden. I put a red mesh bag up around 3 weeks ago and since then we have had Blue and Greats regularly using it
I tried red thinking that if the Blue/great tits are quite scarce around here then maybe the obviously colour may attract them

[andrewking]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

Can anybody help? i'm trying to find a red peanut feeder, not the mesh bags but a proper metal one i've seen them before but can't find them anywhere. Does anybody have an idea where i can find one?

The reason being, we don't have a huge amount of blue Tit, great tit etc. And i can't get them to come to a standard dull feeder, but they will visit a red mesh bag I just want a proper metal one as a long term feeder

You can buy a red feeder at pets2home.co.uk, you'll find it in their wild bird section.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Yes, an interesting subject, what makes birds go to any feeder? How do they find it in the first place and how do they remember it? My feeling is that they just ramble around and try everything - when they find a good place then some of them come back. It only needs one tit to find a feeder then other follow it! On the other hand, some birds feed but never return ....

I'd agree with that theory, i'm sure that if you don't have many Blue/Great tit and finches such as Greenfinch around, then a brighter colour could attract the birds seemed to work for me anyway

[Alan]

Most birds can see the same colour spectrum as us, with some leaning towards ultraviolet.

Maybe one of the reasons why most berries are red is to attract the birds!.....and why a lot of birds have colourful plumage to attract mates etc!

In Scotland red feeders are usually used to attract Cresties. Even deep in the dark forestry plantations, put up a red feeder at it often works - even if you're miles from anywhere.

Red = food maybe?

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Sounds like a good theory to me Alan

[Paul mabbott]

Sounds reasonable but there are still contradictions - some red berries are toxic (or are birds resistant to some fruit that poison mammals?) and elsewhere in nature red is a warning colour ...

Originally Posted by Alan

Most birds can see the same colour spectrum as us, with some leaning towards ultraviolet.
Maybe one of the reasons why most berries are red is to attract the birds!.....and why a lot of birds have colourful plumage to attract mates etc!
In Scotland red feeders are usually used to attract Cresties. Even deep in the dark forestry plantations, put up a red feeder at it often works - even if you're miles from anywhere.
Red = food maybe?

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Sounds reasonable but there are still contradictions - some red berries are toxic (or are birds resistant to some fruit that poison mammals?) and elsewhere in nature red is a warning colour ...

I believe most berries have evolved to attract animals to disperse them, and birds in particular because they can disperse them to a wider area. I maybe wrong but I think birds digestive sytems have evolved to cope with toxins differently from mammals, and the food passes through them faster so the toxins don't affect them. This would also mean that the seeds would pass through them more easily without being damaged. I believe some seeds have to actually pass through a birds digestive sytem before they'll germinate.

You are right about warning colours, but I didn't consider this as the thread was about feeding/attracting birds. Maybe it should be:

Red = I'm here! Eat me or leave me!

Looked up the following about birds vision:

“The best-developed colour vision of any creatures is that of birds. These animals not only have five pigments in their retinas but also each cone has an oil drop which filters the light, narrowing the band of wavelengths it responds to. Birds have five different filters available to combine with their five pigments, creating a powerful system for discerning subtle hues.

Each bird has the cones and filters arranged to suit its particular needs. The pigeon has red and orange oil droplets concentrated on the view ahead and below, which is normally the ground. These filters probably enhance the colour variations in green vegetation. Seabirds which hunt on the surface of the water use red oil droplets to cut out blue scattered light.

Aeroplane pilots used to wear similarly tinted glasses as haze filters. The birds’ filters enhance their sensitivity to red, and this has been exploited by other creatures. Distasteful insects often have bright red or orange warning colours, while flowers pollinated by hummingbirds are coloured red to attract them. Similarly, plants reliant on birds to disperse their seeds have red fruits and berries”

Supersense – Perception in the animal world, John Downer 1988.

Note: Humans have three pigments to the colour receptors (cones).

Alan

[Paul mabbott]

Fascinating stuff. Amazing how vertebrate eyes, all on the same principle, have evolved so differently.
I suppose there's also a matter of scale - to a small bird a feeder must look like a building to us. Painting it a particular colour could be like a pub sign (the 'Bunch of Peanuts') or restaurant name ...
On the toxicity thing, I've noted that blackbirds eating cherry laurel fruit (which I would expect to be toxic) don't stay with them very long: eat half a dozen and then go off - do they just get bored or do they know that eating too many could be harmful?

Originally Posted by Alan

I believe most berries have evolved to attract animals to disperse them, and birds in particular because they can disperse them to a wider area. I maybe wrong but I think birds digestive sytems have evolved to cope with toxins differently from mammals, and the food passes through them faster so the toxins don't affect them. This would also mean that the seeds would pass through them more easily without being damaged. I believe some seeds have to actually pass through a birds digestive sytem before they'll germinate.

You are right about warning colours, but I didn't consider this as the thread was about feeding/attracting birds. Maybe it should be:

Red = I'm here! Eat me or leave me!

Looked up the following about birds vision:

“The best-developed colour vision of any creatures is that of birds. These animals not only have five pigments in their retinas but also each cone has an oil drop which filters the light, narrowing the band of wavelengths it responds to. Birds have five different filters available to combine with their five pigments, creating a powerful system for discerning subtle hues.

Each bird has the cones and filters arranged to suit its particular needs. The pigeon has red and orange oil droplets concentrated on the view ahead and below, which is normally the ground. These filters probably enhance the colour variations in green vegetation. Seabirds which hunt on the surface of the water use red oil droplets to cut out blue scattered light.

Aeroplane pilots used to wear similarly tinted glasses as haze filters. The birds’ filters enhance their sensitivity to red, and this has been exploited by other creatures. Distasteful insects often have bright red or orange warning colours, while flowers pollinated by hummingbirds are coloured red to attract them. Similarly, plants reliant on birds to disperse their seeds have red fruits and berries”

Supersense – Perception in the animal world, John Downer 1988.

Note: Humans have three pigments to the colour receptors (cones).

Alan

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

On the toxicity thing, I've noted that blackbirds eating cherry laurel fruit (which I would expect to be toxic) don't stay with them very long: eat half a dozen and then go off - do they just get bored or do they know that eating too many could be harmful?

Maybe they know when to stop! Unlike some humans with alcohol, although some birds can get 'giddy' on fermenting fruit! Pheasants certainly like grain soaked in whisky - an old poachers trick!

In South America, Macaws after eating toxic foodstuffs, go off and eat neutralizing clay don't they! I wonder if our native birds do similar with other foods!

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

On the toxicity thing, I've noted that blackbirds eating cherry laurel fruit (which I would expect to be toxic) don't stay with them very long: eat half a dozen and then go off - do they just get bored or do they know that eating too many could be harmful?

Edit to my post above - timed out!

Could also be that they are just eating the fruits that are just in the right condition for eating (not too toxic). Just ripe enough or not too ripe - as the case maybe..

[Gaina]

I was in Morrison's super market yesterday and noticed that a company called GARDMAN make red wire bird feeders. I've seen this make in most garden centres and 'Wilkinsons' too .

[gmsmith]

Hi Lincs, we have just replaced all our feeders, mainly because we have had some large birds breaking their way in to some this year and some were getting old, and did'nt look to nice in a photograph, anyway I think you have a point with regards colour, we ended up with five red nut feeders with green tops, and four black feeders with blue tops. of the red feeders all have been topped up three of four times in the last five or six weeks we have had them, the black ones are used but only when there appears no room on any of the others.

Personally I preffered the black because they were less obtrusive when photographed but my better half wanted a 'mixture of colour' , we also have sparrows and starlings that are now regular feeders on the nut baskets and again the sparrows 'appear' to prefer the red basket where as the starlings don't seem bothered which they use. When the tits are feeding of the black baskets they quickly move to the red, once it appears safe to do so................ Inccidently we have a white plastic coated one that we we took out of mothballs just to help out. Haven't seen a bird near it. Strange it might be but around here they appear to prefer red! Oh yes all were from garden centres

Geoff

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

It's strange how birds seem to prefere the red, maybe something to do with Red being a natural feed colour as Alan says

I kind of think that if you put a feeder up in an area where there are plenty of birds, then it doesn't really matter whether its green, red or black. But i'm sure that if you live in a area less populated by birds then Red definatly attracts them

I'm still waiting for the Red feeder i ordered, hopefully will arrive tomorrow

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Got the red feeder i ordered today(thanks Diane ) ad have put it up this evening, hope it will be as attractive as the mesh bags, but hopefully easier for the birds to get stuff out