Hi Donna, here is the basic recipe I've come up with, which is a variation of many similar recipes on Sialis.org - 2 cups rendered suet (I use "Simply Suet" from Wild Birds Unltd) 2 cups crunchy peanut butter (I use an all natural brand) 4-5 cups of dried ingreds, combo of Oat flour, corn meal, ww or white flour Tidbits like chopped nuts, hulled sunflower seeds, currants, etc. Dried, sterilized, ground eggshells (optional, don't use these every time) Melt suet in microwave until liquid (it gets hot!). Add PB which melts in the hot suet. Add dried ingredients and tidbits, mixing well. This makes approx. 5 pint sized containers. As it cools, it becomes stiffer and more difficult to stir. At room temp, you can test the final consistency. If it's too sticky, soften in micro and stir in a bit more flour. If it's too "dry", drizzle a spoonful or 2 of vegetable oil and mix, which will make it stickier. The ideal texture is similar to Play-doh - I can squeeze it into balls and stuff the holes on the suet log, and also break it apart into pea-sized nuggets which can be spread in a tray. The Bluebirds prefer the nuggets in the tray, but they will also perch and cling to the log to eat the suet mixture. They are spoiled because if they're hanging out there I will make a special trip out to spread some nuggets. They are the only birds that get special feedings. :) There are now 7 (possibly more) Bluebirds that visit daily as I've seen 5 females at one time and at least 2 males, one of which is banded and one is not. Once in awhile there is a day they are AWOL, such as an unusually warm and balmy and I think they go off to find insects. Many other birds LOVE this stuff too, including Titmice, Chickadees, all the Woodpeckers, Red & White Breast Nuthatches, Sparrows, Juncos, Carolina Wrens, Blue Jays, Cat Birds, Cardinals, HOSPs and EUSTs. The only ones that don't eat it are the Finches - Gold finches, House Finches, and Pine Siskins - they eat the BOSS. Sorry this is so lengthy. Here's a pic of the final mixture -

Thanks for the info Ginni. I'm also a pet owner. Not all these items would necessarily be used for suet, nor is this list all inclusive, nonetheless these are additional food items that should never be fed to dogs as they may be toxic and/or fatal: Fish -- If fed exclusively or in high amounts can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death. Cat food - generally too high in protein and fats Raisins / Grapes / Currants - kidney damage Avacado - vomiting and diarrhea Hops - Unknown compound causes panting, increased heart rate, elevated temperature, seizures, and death Mushrooms - Can contain toxins, which may affect multiple systems in the body, cause shock, and result in death. Onions and garlic - Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. Cats are more susceptible than dogs. Garlic is less toxic than onions. Nuts, including and especially macadamia Chocolate/coffee/tea/caffeine - toxic to heart and nervous system fat trimmings (Pancreatitis) Human vitamins with iron - Can damage the lining of the digestive system and be toxic to the other organs including the liver and kidneys Milk or dairy products Salt - can lead to elecrolyte imbalances Sugars or artificial sweeteners (hypoglycemia or liver failure) yeast dough Table scraps are not nutritionally balanced. They should never be more than 10% of the diet. Fat should be trimmed from meat; bones should not be fed.

Robins are primarily ground feeders and they eat a LOT of insects - so I'm not surprised they'd go for suet. It's just not generally offered where they typically feed, ie hanging up somewhere. They also eat berries and fallen fruit (probably more than insects depending on season/availability) so while I wouldn't have thought of it, eating jelly and oranges would be pretty normal for a robin as well - its just not generally put out where they would get it. I would guess they would prefer apples to oranges though. Dogwood, service berry, mulberry, chokeberry, some types of sumac, winterberry (especially liked by robins in winter), bunchberry, some types of quince, crabapples, arrow wood and several other viburnums; there are a LOT of shrubs and trees you can plant to attract robins, cedar waxwings, and other birds that aren't seed feeders. Mulberry trees in particular have an undeserved reputation as a "trash" tree - the issue being that they attract birds who poop all over the place! WELL YEAH! That's what they are good for! Just don't plant it next to a patio, walkway or driveway if it bothers you. We had a white mulberry that we NEVER were able to get any fruit off because it was mobbed by birds as soon as it set fruit, LOL! Red mulberry will stain a walk but white won't. If I had a yard - and I wanted to attract a lot of birds - mulberry would be the first thing I'd put in.

Thanks for the response, Jim! The other day I mixed up some peanut butter, cornmeal(organic), a bit of bacon grease, a bit of molasses, some chopped apple, and made what I call "dough balls" like we used to for fish bait. It held together well, so I put about 4 golf ball size chunks in the wire suet feeder. Even the HOSPs are climbing all over that wire feeder to get to the dough balls. I also bought some regular popcorn (not microwave; nothing in it) that I thought I would fix and toss out on the ground for the ground feeding birds. Right now I am not able to get to the store to get seed. OKC had 14 inches of snow (unprecedented for us) and we are definitely not prepared for snow of this magnitude. We usually get ice that melts the next day, but it is going to be so cold for the next 10 days or so, so not much melting anticipated. Just trying to think up things I have available in the pantry to feed the birds. Appreciate all the good info I am getting on this forum! Susan