brand names are for the birds

To paraphrase a famous marketing slogan: Choosy birds choose Jif!

Among our several bird feeders is one designed to have peanut butter smeared in shallow-drilled holes. It was one we bought primarily to attract chickadees for my mom, and in our area to be more specific, chestnut-backed chickadees. Having my personal favorite brand, Jif, on hand, we used it at first. Now I happen to prefer creamy peanut butter, but eventually we decided to use crunchy peanut butter for this feeder - and for the birds, we'll get whichever brand is on sale. Which was not a popular decision with the neighborhood birds! They stopped coming to that feeder with the different brand peanut butter, and when we went back to Jif (crunchy, in this case), they returned. Wow, they're as picky and have the same taste as me.

For even longer, my sister and I have kept feeders for hummingbirds active, and I don't think we've even entertained the idea of using off brands of sugar. In my case, anyway, I feel safe using C & H brand. Now this is an unpaid endorsement (really), but for the birds at least, I use and recommend Jif Peanut Butter for the chickadees and C & H Pure Cane Granulated White Sugar (with no added red dye) for the hummingbirds.