Feeding Birds with Suet Feeders

Suet feeders are a great choice for attracting wild birds. Woodpeckers especially are drawn to this high-fat source of energy suet provides, although they're not the only ones-you're likely to see nuthatches in your yard too. The best suet for birds is raw beef kidney fat, but you can also purchase pre-formed commercial suet cakes at grocery and feed supply stores or make your own. Suet cakes are usually mixed with a variety of seeds and berries.

Preparing Suet at Home

If you know how to cook meat, you have all the skills it takes to make your own suet cakes-you just need to render the fat. Visit your local grocery store or butcher to purchase beef kidney or other hard, white beef fat which is generally already packaged in mesh bags. Start with 1-2 pounds. Avoid yellow suet; birds don't care for the stringy tissues if often contains.

To save on cleanup, ask the butcher if they can grind the suet for you. Otherwise, you can either put it through your own meat grinder or cut it up into small chunks. You'll need approximately 2 cups of suet for each suet cake you plan to make. Work in small batches, so that you're only melting enough suet for 1-2 cakes at a time.

Using a double boiler, render the fat slowly until it's almost dissolved. Remove the double boiler from the heat and allow the suet to cool. When the suet has cooled, return the double boiler to the stove to melt it a second time. Remove the suet from the heat again, but watch the cooling process carefully. Wait for the mixture to begin to congeal before adding your other ingredients. If you add them before the suet is cool enough, they'll float to the top of the mixture.

Add 1 cup of peanut butter, 2 cups of coarsely ground cornmeal and any dried fruits or nuts you have on hand. Raisins, cherries, currants and other berries are good choice as they add to the nutritional content of the suet cake.

Other suet ingredients you might consider using include cracked corn; eggshells, which aid digestion and provide a source of calcium; coconut, bird seed or granola; crushed crackers that have gone stale; and popcorn.

When your ingredients are thoroughly mixed with the suet, divide it to make the number of cakes you need. Roll each portion into a ball and then flatten each ball to form a square. Wrap your suet cakes in waxed paper or freezer paper and store in your freezer inside a freezer bag until you're ready to use them.

Suet Feeders

Suet is generally placed in mesh bags or wire baskets that hang like traditional bird feeders. Some suet holders are designed to attach to the bottom of your existing bird feeder, forcing birds to hang beneath it and feed upside down. Most birds eat comfortably this way and the configuration helps keep squirrels and starlings away, both of which can dominate a suet feeder if it's positioned improperly. Wire cages are more durable than mesh bags.

You can also serve suet in a log feeder. Log-style feeders are available for purchase, but you can easily make your own by cutting a 12" to 18" length of wood and drilling holes into the sides. Make the holes large enough to contain your suet cakes or fill the holes with unhardened mixture itself. Hang the log feeder in a vertical position from a tree branch or feeding pole.

Some people use can feeders, making use of empty tuna or pet food containers and hang them like other feeders or nail them directly to trees. Like log feeders, can feeders are easy to refill.

Potential Hazards of Suet Feeding

Many people worry that birds will overeat and possibly gain enough weight that it prevents them from escaping predators. However, birds tend not to gorge themselves this way and adding suet feeders to your yard won't present a problem. Birds may eat more from your feeders in winter, but during the summer the feed you provide is most often a supplement to their natural diet (birds that attracted to suet are generally insect eaters).

In any case, if choose to use suet and suet feeders in your yard, keep the following precautions in mind:

• In winter, wire suet feeders are a hazard when birds are wet from rain or snow. Their feet, feathers and even their eyes may stick to the wire cage. Choose plastic-coated wire feeders to keep birds safe.
• Suddenly stopping suet feeding in winter poses a threat to birds that over-winter and have grown dependent on your feeder to survive. Be sure you can keep up with suet feeding if you choose to continue in the winter months else stop suet feeding in late summer.
• Suet cakes that are exposed to high heat and humidity in summer quickly turn rancid. Be sure any suet you're not using is properly stored in your freezer and your suet feeder is in a shady spot. Put out only small amounts and plan to refill more often, as needed.
• Clean your suet feed at least once a month and more often during the hot summer months to keep harmful bacteria from making birds sick.