Date: 4/7/24 11:06 am From: Steve Wilson <clevergrayjay...> Subject: [mou-net] Common Redpolls and Peanuts
Common redpolls finally came into feeders here in the NE several weeks ago,
and at our feeders in Isabella have been inhaling peanuts. I first noticed
this in Tower two years ago. Oddly, when I inquired about this on Ely Field
Naturalists, two well-established feeding stations reported the same, while
two others, further west, reported they weren’t touching them. That raises
the possibility that this is an individual flock behavior, and even the
possibility of social contagion of a learned behavior, à la England’s great
tits. The sample size is far too small to draw that conclusion, so I’m
hoping others will share their observations one way or the other with me. It
would also be helpful to know your general location, how many years you’ve
been putting out peanuts, and to the best of your recollection, when they
started eating them, if they are.
