When I put whole peanuts in a platform feeder, the main takers are Blue Jays and they will take them all and cache them. They will also show up like clock work for them. The RBWP will also take some occasionally. If I put them in a feeder that allows the WPs to break the peanuts, then it is all RBWP, HWP and occasionally a DWP. If I put out shelled peanuts its all the WPs and the nuthatches and chickadess join the party. If Starlings find your shelled peanuts, they will eat them with amazing speed, which is why I only provide them in the winter.

I have a peanut wreath that I load with peanuts in the shells. Blue Jays and Grackles are the only birds I've seen take the entire peanut and shell, although the Grackles aren't as adept as the Jays at getting the whole shell out of the wreath. Downies, Red Bellies, Titmice, and Nuthatches are also regular visitors to the peanut wreath but all those birds peck away at the shells in the wreath, remove the peanuts from the shell, and then take off, leaving the empty shell in the wreath. Maybe you could try placing a few shelled peanuts around to entice your regular visitors but I'm pretty sure they already know what's in the shells. Just as Chris noted, I've stayed away from a shelled peanut feeder because of the Starlings.

As an aside, squirrels will occasionally take the in-shell peanuts and bury them around my yard. This past Spring I had a number of peanut plants pop up. I left a few of them in place and actually got about a dozen peanuts from the plants. I set the harvested peanuts out for the squirrels to eat since they did the legwork of planting the peanuts to begin with.

if i put out peanuts in the shell the jays and magpies carry them all off in minutes.If i put out shelled peanuts the tits and chickadees and nuthatches eat them if the jays and magpies don't get them first. So i make my own suet blocks and woodpecker blocks in hanging cages, I mix shelled peanuts in the mixes either sorghum or suet. the woodpeckers and other hanging birds pull the nuts out of the mixes but the other birds can't hang well on the swinging cages.

I trust that you didn't use Salted Peanuts, because if you did, that's the problem.

No, it's raw peanuts. I have always seen woodpeckers eat peanuts out of shells, but may be they only do that on vertical feeders.

I am hoping that a blue jay will pass by, I only see a few occasionally. All of the grackles in the area have migrated away. I never seemed to get any Starlings (thank God). I am surprised that the squirrels have made no attempt to retrieve the nuts, but I am thinking that they can't see it or realized that they can't get to it.

I will try to sprinkle some unshelled ones.

Paul

I put out peanuts in a shell every morning for the Blue Jays. Tufted Titmouse also love to take them if the Jays give him half a chance before they are gone.

Theresa.

Paul, I feed roasted (because I can't find Raw) Peanuts to Scrub jays everyday, and find that the Squirrels smell, then take nuts that the Jays hide.

I sprinkle some unshelled nuts. Still no takers. Arrgh, may be the feeder is at a bad location or they don't like the feeder.

May be I'll try some sunflower seed on it to see if there are any takers.

I would love to see a tufted titmouse, but I don't think there are any in my area.

Paul

It's been a few years since I put out peanuts in the shell, but same as Tzmd, Blue Jays and Tufted Titmice were the only birds I recall taking them. And of course, the squirrels.

I am amazed nobody responded to the unshelled nuts, many birds like to pick the pieces of nuts out of the suet mixture, especially the Nuthatches. Maybe you need to give it a few days.

During the summer, I had a lot of Grackles. They definite went for nuts, whole kernel corn, A lot of stuff the other birds find too big to eat.

Nuthatches are in my area, but most of them don't stick around or come to the feeder often. I'll try a larger concentration of nuts and see if they'll be attracted. May be it takes a while for them to get used to a new feeder.

Paul

Paul,
I put out a "woodpecker" mix from Wild Birds Unlimited in my tray feeder which works well at attracted all sorts of birds. I don't know what area you are in but, Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Doves, Sparrows, Titmouse, Chickadees (all I can remember right now) all enjoy the woodpecker mix tray. If you haven't yet, I would give something like that a try.

Here is some pictures from last year of my setup

I just set them on a table for the Blue Jays

Thanks, with the combo of sunflower seed and mixed shelled nuts, the birds are coming. The blue jay still ignores it. The store manager where I buy my bird seed is incredulous. He said Blue Jay usually goes nuts over peanuts. They'll even figure out when you put out the nuts, hang around outside and start squawking to tell you to fill the feeder. He thinks the ones in my yard has been dropped on their heads.

I don't get Blue Jays but I can't hide peanuts in the shell from Scrub Jays. It's funny watching them try to carry them all off at once. They'll get 2 or 3 in their beak and try for another.

{{!gwi}}

When I visited my sister in California, I have seen ScrubJays picking through her flower pots.

I have seen video where Blue Jays pick up different peanuts and weight them to see which one is the heaviest. I guess the blue jay in my area are just too dumb :-p

Paul

If i put peanut in the shell for the longest time only the squirrels would get them there are 4 of them then i would listen to here for the blue jay then I would put some out it took about a week then everyday they were coming now it too cold for me to sit outside to wait for them so now i just feed the squirrels sunfloers seeds

here is a picture of a woodpecker eating my home made peanut butter mix he comes ofter it eat some