I can now confirm that North Island robins definitely do eat peanut butter.
We had suspected this at one of the sites where I volunteer, having found inky bird footprints on tracking cards and (sadly) the occasional pile of feathers below an A24 trap, but were uncertain whether robins were eating the PB, eating the insects on/in the PB, or simply exploring. However, today I was reluring an A24 with peanut butter and kept having to shoo away an overly interested robin. As soon as I stood up the robin flew down right by my feet and started stuffing its beak with the peanut butter I’d just blazed onto the tree.
My current plan to attract rodents not robins is to avoid putting the blaze directly under the trap and instead blaze the peanut butter around the side of the tree, beside/above the trap if on a slope, or on an adjacent tree. Runny peanut butter that drips through the trap could also be a problem (and may cause the gas canisters to go flat early if it sticks on the A24 trigger wire). I don’t want to eliminate the blaze entirely, or use a less attractive lure, as these particular traps are part of a defensive perimeter line and need to be more attractive to any passing rodents than all those tasty native species inside the forest.
Any other tips for making traps unattractive to robins while keeping the rodents interested?
Only to say that sadly I have found at certain times of the year that (mainly) blackbirds and dunnocks are keen on the PB in Victors traps. At that time of the year I find the GN Meat Lovers lure a good alternative. No experience of robins. Cheers, Tony
Hi if you are going to use a food base for your blaze then you can expect to kill some birds, particularly robins, they also love Blue smooth lure aniseed lure etc etc.
I keep telling groups NOT to put lure outside the traps as all you do in encourage them to go inside for some more food. I know it was all the rage for a while but expert people have had to backtrack on some advice. Problem is what you post on you tube is there forever.
There is enough problems with Robins and other birds ducking under covers on traps like sentinel to get the lure, luckily they are too light to set off the traps. Google bellbird sentinel
If your trap is set up well you just don’t need to extra food base external attractants. I would be interested if anyone can show me the results of actual proper peer reviewed trials, and not just opinions.
Somewhere here in another thread is a question relating to someone who had been trapping for 20 years and only started killing Robins in doc traps after following the so Called expert advice on Predator Free to lay a trail of food crumbs up to the trap.
@dave_e any evidence that you’ve come across as to whether robins are using sight or scent to detect food? I did look for published research on robins and trap interactions, but didn’t find any, hence this post.
My assumption in placing the lure some way from the trap entrance is that the robins are welcome to eat the peanut butter outside the trap if they like, because they will not be able to see that there is more inside the black opaque plastic of the A24, whereas the rodents will find the lure in a non-threatening location and then sniff their way to the main supply inside the trap. We are not blazing on tunnel trap entrances for exactly the reasons you mention.
Hi good that you are not luring directly in the entrance, and yes I follow your logic of luring away from entrance.
I have not seen any published trial work, so this comment is basically a guess based on field work
I think there could be a variation on sight verses scent for different birds, and to an extent a learnt behaviour.
The problem with Kiwi and A24 traps where the tips of their Bills get smashed, logic says Kiwi is attracted by scent, not great eyesight and active at night. Kiwi also get killed in DOC traps going after meat lures.
Birds are not supposed to like Blue/ Green colors which is why baits are Blue/Green , but Robins go after the Blue Smooth plus other Lures, about 5 years ago I threw a bit of Connovation Blue Smooth to a Robin to see what it would do, it was attracted by the movement then scoffed it down.
Now years later occasionally I get reports from volunteers that after they relure a sentinel they see a cheeky Robin duck under the cover to get some lure, so I put that down to a learnt behaviour, they have probably found a few crumbs of lure on the ground as it’s easy to get a bit fall off when re luring then they make a connection. I guess both sight and scent play a part there.
The same goes for the video of Bellbird and sentinel somehow it has made the association white cover and food, if they do it all year or not I don’t know.
It would be a difficult time consuming trial but a thought off the top of my head, if your PB lure away from the trap was contained so that a Robin could not get it but the scent was still there to attract your target rat, would the Robin make the connection to PB in the trap ?.
I think you can still get the plastic mesh bird deterrent for the A24, how well they work I don’t know as don’t use A24 due to Kiwi.
Can second that as in our project a blackbird set off a victor trap which had pb as lure.
We also lost a blackbird to an A24 trap baited with good nature lure.
Thanks for the share - good discussion. We have caught the occasional waxeye in our peanut butter lured traps. Always upsetting to find non target species caught. Good to rethink the advice re putting food lure immediately outside traps…