I Like Peanuts

Over the years, I've tested different foods for different birds. I use black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS), nyjer, fruit and nut mix, shelled peanuts, unshelled peanuts, sugar water (hummingbirds) and sunflower hearts. At some point, I noticed that tufted titmice love shelled peanuts. I can mix them with other seeds in a feeder and they look for the shelled peanuts. I've tested this out over the years. So, when I buy fruit and nut mix I also buy a separate bag of shelled peanuts. Then I mix the shelled peanuts into the fruit and nut mix to satisfy the titmice.

Below, a titmouse lands on a feeder with fruit, nuts, and shelled peanuts. Its sitting and searching for its peanuts.

Next, after searching for the peanuts, the titmouse jumps in and picks one up.

The above images were taken on November 21, 2007. I took many images of different titmice doing the same thing that day and on other days over the years. They always search for the peanuts, and if any were left, picked one out of the other seeds, nuts, and fruits.

This has happened steadily over the years. Below is an image I took last week. Its a different feeder but it has fruit and nut mix with extra peanuts in it. As you can see, the titmouse found its peanut and seems quite pleased.

Tufted Titmouse