Crushed nuts make chicks choke?

[PedrX]

Thanks again re help with 'rural housing thing'. Such diversity of valid opinion. If there's a single answer in life perhaps it is: there's no single answer in life.

One suggestion was the importance of feeding to attract birds which brings me to the point:

I'm told not to feed peanuts during whenever as they may choke fledglings.
So what about pounding the nuts. Presumably this would be harmless. Assuming birds don't have diverticulitis - which I do by the way. Oh, it's dreadfully.

My robins have taken up diurnal star gazing. Or neck stretching. They peer directly above as though searching for something. Is this some mating procedure do you think? I've noticed my wife doing it sometimes... When I'm talking.

[Redrob]

Going by my own experience of feeding the birds. I feed them whole peanuts and mixed seed all year round. Some people disagree with this, thinking the same, the chicks may choke. During the nesting season I don't do anything different! The parent birds I have watched feeding the chicks in my bird boxes select what they need from the feeder, then take it to a safe place where they will sit and peck it to a satisfactory size before entering the box to feed the chicks. Nuts and seed are a very very small part of a chicks diet. The adults normally use the feeder food for them selves as a quick snack in-between there very busy schedule of feeding the young.

As for the Robins, not sure what's goin on there!

Maybe your wife can help you on that one!! LOL

[rossy]

its not a good idea to put nuts out , when the birds are in breeding season, as their is plenty of food , insects , worms, caterpillars,grubs, all their natural food, its only during the winter months that the birds need our help, so hope that helps your query , as for the robins, the posture you have seen, is to do with the male trying to attract the female, ive seen them do it, its a bit like one of those toys you wind up, and they sway from side to side, rossy.

[artdemole]

Broken up nuts are taken away by the different birds even in nesting time.If we don't feed in spring then there is not enough to go round for all.Too many places have no hedges also land being taken up for buildings to increase the concrete jungle.Perhaps your Robbins are doing a big bird watch.

[Elizabeth B]

Originally Posted by rossy

its not a good idea to put nuts out , when the birds are in breeding season, as their is plenty of food , insects , worms, caterpillars,grubs, all their natural food, its only during the winter months that the birds need our help, so hope that helps your query , as for the robins, the posture you have seen, is to do with the male trying to attract the female, ive seen them do it, its a bit like one of those toys you wind up, and they sway from side to side, rossy.

Not according to the RSPB!

The RSPB: Advice: When to feed wild birds

[Ben Orme]

Sounds like a painful innuendo.

[RKB]

Originally Posted by Elizabeth B

Not according to the RSPB!

The RSPB: Advice: When to feed wild birds

Well, they would say that, the RSPB have business tie-ins with the birdfood industry! (those endorsements on the packaging are worth a tidy sum!)

The problem with feeding during spring is not choking, but that chicks die of dehydration. The natural food of garden bird chicks is insects, especially caterpillars, and these are very high in water - the chicks get all of their water intake from food, as they cannot drink.

In urban areas, caterpillars are often hard to find, so birds may take the easy option and feed them things from the feeders, such as seeds and nuts. These are very low in water, and so the chicks get dehydrated and can die.

Because surburbs have lots of birdfeeders, they tend to trick the birds into thinking it is good habitat, because there is plenty of adult food, but in reality there is often little natural food (few mature trees full of caterpillars). So it attracts birds to breed, but there is not enough food for the chicks. As such, it is normal for garden birdboxes to have a high mortality rate among the chicks, due to starvation. In desperation, they will feed them nuts and seeds, but that will kill many of them too.

So, you can't win really. Birds feed their chicks nuts because they are desperate. The nuts will probably kill the chicks, but they're likely to die of starvation anyway. The alternative is to feed live mealworms, but this is expensive - dried mealworms are no good, as they hav a low water content too.

[stigofthedump]

Originally Posted by PedrX

I've noticed my wife doing it sometimes... When I'm talking.

I wouldn't worry about this....It's a perfectly natural response from a wife whilst her husband is talking

Vince

[Elizabeth B]

Originally Posted by RKB

Well, they would say that, the RSPB have business tie-ins with the birdfood industry! (those endorsements on the packaging are worth a tidy sum!)

I've won my bet with myself!!!! I reckoned someone would come up with this sort of response!

Do you really believe that the RSPB would consider anything to their financial advantage as being more important than the birds' welfare?

We've been watching blue and great tits rearing families in our camera boxes since 2001, and seen the parents bringing in caterpillars etc for the chicks. They can feed themselves on the variety of food we offer (and water, of course) which means they have more time to find suitable food for their chicks.

[Wild-Woman]

I feed all year round but only enough so that the feeders are emptied daily. I think getting the adult birds and fledged chicks well fed and ready for the winter months can only help with survival.
I only ever feed nuts from a wire mesh feeder and drop these off from spring until about september. Otherwise they have seed all year including sunflower hearts, nyger and fruits.