They seem to go mad for the seed that I throw out (into the bird feeder), and the fat cake is always popular. We've even got a niger seed feeder that's popular with the goldfinches & redpolls and a mealworm feeder for robins & great tits, but I recently stuck up a peanut feeder (like this) and there's been virtually no interest at all. I've had a go at re-organising what food's put where but there still seems to be no interest in the peanuts. Any top tips from the STW ornithologists?

We have plenty of tits and woodpeckers feeding off our peanut feeders. I have moved them well away from the seed feeders to a quieter spot leaving the sparrows, chaffinches etc to duke it out on their own. Having said that, the tits make occasional forays into the melee but never vice versa.

double-entendre heaven this one 😆

@psychle – dunno what you mean!

@slowjo – ah, could be the problem – my seed is quite close to my nuts at the mo. I'll try putting it a bit further away.

tighter lycra??

bribery?

my seed is quite close to my nuts at the mo

Get the Kleenex ready, any moment now…

Tits like coconuts…. 😆

We''ve had the same problem. Nut feeder next door – well used. Our seed feeders – likewise. Nuts – no chance.

Peanuts are like fast food to lesser spotted woodpeckers… we have loads in our garden almost queuing up to have a go!

It gets much busier in the winter but ours feed pretty much all year round.

Leave the feeders out long enough and someone will find them . Once they have worked out that your garden is a reliable source of food they (birds) will visit all the time.

We've had chaff all investigating ours, its quite overlooked, but I can't see why there is no interest at all. Its been there a year now.

I crush my nuts up and mix them up with some loose seeds on a stone table.

Bunnyhop – I do sometimes leave my nuts on the ground for the bigger clumsier birds, but for the more agile birds I've got such a funky new nut holder and I'd love to get them interested in using it.

At this time of year, the birds need fattening up a bit to get them through colder times.

I've tried rubbing my nuts with lard which seems to attract them quite nicely.

I've been soaking my seeds in fat from the mince that I cook – I get about half a cup of fat off the meat and I pour it into a foil-lined mug, then pour in seeds to the top of the mug, mix it all up, cool it in fridge and remove the foil, a nice cup-sized pile of fat and seeds that the birds seem to love.