Press Releases - November/December 2006
Item 8

No. 2006/11/66
November 2006

Parents lead young to fast food

Peanuts are fast food for woodpeckers. Results show that 83% of all Great Spotted Woodpeckers visiting gardens come to feed on peanuts, and it doesn’t stop there. Adult birds locate supplies of peanuts and bring their young back to feed on them.

Britons put out 16,000 tonnes of peanuts every year with which to feed the birds, which is good news for woodpeckers and their young. Paul Stancliffe, Promotions Officer at the BTO said “By bringing their young to garden bird feeding stations and taking advantage of the peanut supplies, adult woodpeckers are saving valuable foraging time; these are literally fast food outlets for these birds.”

The British Trust for Ornithology, in partnership with the Radio 4 ‘Shared Earth’ programme, launched a survey asking people to study the Great Spotted Woodpeckers in their gardens. Participants were asked to provide information on how woodpeckers were using their gardens. Paul Stancliffe added, “The response was fantastic, over 6,000 reports were received from almost 2,000 woodpecker watchers.”

What has become clear is that adult woodpeckers are checking out gardens for food first, and then bringing the kids along when they are old enough. The food they seek out the most is peanuts, with 83% of all birds reported feeding on these. Peanut cake is another favourite. Peanuts have a high fat content and are literally fast food for the young birds, at a time when they need to put on weight quickly. Jamie Oliver eat your heart out! By mid-September, these young birds are fully-grown and begin to use gardens less and less, presumably returning to their natural woodland habitat and other foods.

The BTO wants to hear from people with Great Spotted Woodpeckers in their gardens. If you have woodpeckers in your garden and would like to get involved in the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch, please send your name and address details to BTO, GBW, Room 66, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, email or telephone 01842-750050, to receive a free information pack.

Notes for Editors

1. There are three species of woodpecker that breed in Britain; these are the Great Spotted Woodpecker, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and the Green Woodpecker. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is the most common.

2. The Great Spotted Woodpecker's diet in the wild includes, insects, seeds, and occasionally the eggs and young of small birds.

3. The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch is the only nationwide survey of garden birds to run weekly throughout the year, providing important information on how birds use gardens, and how this use changes over time. Currently, some 16,500 people take part in the project. The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch is funded by participants’ contributions and supported by CJ WildBird Foods Ltd and is the largest year round survey of garden birds anywhere in the world. For more information see www.bto.org/gbw

4. CJ WildBird Foods is Europe’s leading supplier of bird food and bird feeding products. CJ WildBird Foods has been responsible for a number of significant developments within the bird food and feeding industry, including the introduction of black sunflower seeds to the UK as a major new bird food and the development of specialist seed mixes for use in tubular feeders. The company has also been supporting research into the changing fortunes of garden bird populations, most notably through the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch.

5. More details on the results of the Great Spotted Woodpecker survey can be found in the latest issue of Bird Table Magazine.

6. Bird Table Magazine is published quarterly and sent free to all BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatchers. An annual subscription to the project costs just £12 and all new joiners will receive a free copy of the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Book (which normally retails for £9.99).

7. Images. For more images similar to the one overleaf, for use in association with this press release, please contact to request an electronic version. Please quote reference number 2006/11/66

8. Bird Information. For lots of facts and figures about Great Spotted Woodpeckers and other garden birds go to www.bto.org/birdfacts

9. The BTO has an ISDN line available for radio interviews.

For further information please contact:

Paul Stancliffe on 01842 750050 or email: (during office hours)
or mobile 07845 900559 (anytime)

Mike Toms on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (during office hours)

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