Tom and Tweets -

Feed them that peanut butter!! It is a high energy food, loved by many of
our fine feathered friends. Just as eating just peanut butter wouldn't be
recommended for humans neither is it recommended for birds. But as a treat
or even a major part of a more balanced feeding program it is great stuff.
It is recommended by many states Agricultural Extension services, Audubon,
and even Kaytee - one of the major bird food retailers.

A great way to feed peanut butter is to mix it with seed of some kind or
even suet and then spread it deep and thick on a pine cone (to which you
have attached a long string BEFORE putting in the peanut butter mix) then
hang the cone on a tree or the eaves. Yummy stuff.

Birds aren't likely to have their little mouthies stuck shut by this stuff
(some of them feed on the likes of pine sap remember) and having it stick in
their mouth and choking them? Have you ever seen a robin or a waxwing put
away a whole 1/2 inch crabapple in a single bite? Have you ever watched
really carefully to see how powerful a tool a birds tongue can be?

Sounds like Martha Stewart used 50 year old sources for her more or less
urban legend based recommendation. Did she perchance recommend feeding
Organic cherry-mango chutney spread on homemade multi-grain seed crackers
and topped with special kidney-fat only suet and hanging it out in a nice
brass bird feeder available from her catalogue for only $99?? Did it come
with the optional caviar refrigeration unit to make those Siberian Accipters
at home?? ;-)

Peanut Butter - Its a good thing

Rob Conway
Bellevue, WA

robin_birder at hotmail.com




>From: "Tom Benedict" <benedict.t at ghc.org>
>Reply-To: benedict.t at ghc.org
>To: <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Peanut Butter Sticks in Bird Mouths -> Urban Legend?
>Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 11:15:29 -0800
>
>I know this has been discussed before, but the claim that one should not
>put peanut butter out for birds in the winter because it "will cause
>their beaks to get stuck shut" has appeared in Martha Stewart Living
>magazine this month. I think it's the December edition which explains
>how to make suet cakes to feed birds in winter.
>
>I seem to recall that this claim is an urban legend and is not in fact
>true. Can anyone support or refute this?
>
>Tom Benedict
>tbenz at halcyon.com

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