Everything You Need To Know About Wild Bird Peanuts

Peanuts are hugely popular with a very wide variety of bird species that visit our gardens across the UK. They are a completely natural and healthy food, and contain essential minerals and nutrients that enhance survival prospects for birds in all forms of environmental conditions.

So, we’ve put together this ‘complete guide’ to peanuts so you know exactly what you’re buying and feeding your precious garden birds.

Wild bird peanuts can vary greatly in shape, form, size, oil richness and, of course, overall quality. It’s essential to look out for peanuts that may contain mycotoxin aflatoxin, which can be severely harmful for garden birds. Most reputable and responsible stores sell mould and aflatoxin-free wild bird peanuts, so make sure to double-check this before you purchase any peanuts.

Standard wild bird peanuts are a great way to feed garden birds if there are certain cost concerns. This does not mean that the quality or nutritional value is any lower, just that the actual appearance of the peanuts may be slightly more shrivelled than the premium variety.

Plus, they are rigorously aflatoxin-tested for any harmful elements. The typical size of these peanuts is roughly 80/90, which is the number of peanuts that fit in the average-sized hand.

Premium wild bird peanuts are a higher-end, more luxury version of bird peanuts that are packed full of protein, vitamins and other helpful nutrients for your garden birds’ health.

The major difference between these and the cheaper variety (see above) is their plumpness and hand amount ratio, which is around 60/70. The premium wild bird peanuts tend to have a deeper red colour than the standard peanuts.

Designed for feeding fledglings and smaller birds, peanuts granules are full of the usual nutritional components, just more manageable for the birds to eat.

This convenient food is perfect for mixing with other types of bird food (suet pellets, sunflower hearts etc) so you can create your very own blend of bird food – why not experiment to see which combinations and mixtures of wild bird food your feather-friends enjoy.

All peanuts contain good source of fats, which are important for giving birds energy throughout the year. They are certainly an important source of energy through periods such as winter, where certain species of bird shed a considerable amount of weight within short periods of time i.e. a single day.

The source of these peanuts will depend on the time of year they are available; for instance, they come from all over the world: China, North America, Nigeria and even Eastern Europe.