Spent 3 months trying to attract blue jays with the wrong thing

I put out a ton of mixed seed last spring and barely saw any blue jays. A neighbor told me they actually prefer whole peanuts in the shell, so I switched to that and within a week I had 4 of them showing up daily. Turns out a lot of people think jays eat the same stuff as sparrows, but they really want bigger, high-fat foods. Has anyone else had trouble getting a specific bird because you were using the wrong food?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_carter5121d ago

Did you notice much difference with the feeder type too? I found that blue jays really like platform feeders where they can land and pick through things. They seem to avoid the tube feeders no matter what food you put in them.

barbaraschmidt21d ago

My peanuts and black oil sunflower seeds on a platform brought in a whole family of blue jays last spring, they just ignore the tube feeder hanging right next to it. Is it the perching space or are they picky about how they see their food spread out?