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Which birds love suet?

14 years ago

Hi my name is Ann I live in Southern Utah. I just found this fourm. I am usually on the plant fourms. I have been wondering which birds in the southern part of Ut. eat suet. Last year my husband really got into feeding the birds so we have feeders and started planting for them I would like to encourgae suet eating birds but I am not sure if we have any in my part of the state. Is there a certain way they like the feeder to be hung, placed on the trunk? If anyone has any ideas or if there might be someone in my neck of the woods I love hear how I might encourage these birds Thanks

Ann in So. Ut

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Comments (2)

donald lucius
14 years ago
i live in south west colorado near Durango. My back yard is pinyon and juniper trees and oak brush with native grasses and some shrubs. I don't put out suet trays or raw suet till the winter storms start. the more it snows and blows the more winter birds i get. Mostly juncos with some chickadees and nuthatches. a few towhees and sparrows in winter along with woodpeckers and a few finches.
two familys of jays year around with some magpies and starlings and summer oeioles and red wing blackbirds.
I started with the metal cages nailed to sides of trees but the towhees and juncos tried but had little success eating from them but the hanging types such as woodpecker and chickadees and nuthatches liked them so i hung a block of wood with a large deep lid on the block to make a platform feeder so the towhees and juncos and the ground feeders could perch either on the sides of the lid or in it to eat. i make up my own suet mixes according to what i have on hand. usually lard or shortning or leftover cooking oils from the deep fryer or from cooking meats ect.
i soften it in the microwave just enough to mix in the meat scraps and oats with nuts or dried fruits and berrys and thicken it with cornmeal or grits and laddle it into the plastic trays that raspberrys or blueberrys or other berrys come in from the grocery stores. put the plastic trays in the cages and hang the cages from the limbs. usually close to another limb that the birds can perch on to eat from the cages. If the starlings try to take over the suet trays i hang them away from other limbs so the birds have to hang onto the cages to eat. I scare off the starlings everytime i see them by tapping on the window
jannd
14 years ago
Woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches are the biggest fans of suet feeders. Hanging an inexpensive metal basket (easy to get at any Petco or Target)with the commercially available suet cakes (also Petco or Target)will likely draw birds if hung on a branch or a shepherd's hook about 5' off the ground. Nearby trees, shrubs, or woodpiles help birds feel like they have a safe retreat, so locate your feeders accordingly. Also, have fresh water out for them (I just fill a terra cotta saucer) and you'll draw more visitors. Good luck!
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Since bacon is a brined meat I doubt you will ever find unsalted bacon except for what is sold as fresh fatback. You can remove much of the salt by putting in a pan of water and heating. Stir while melting. This will disolve some of the salt in the rendered grease into the water. Let the solution set in a cool place to firm the fat. Remove the fat cake that should form on the top and throw away the water. This can be repeated several times to remove additional salt. If your bacon fat is fresh you can dice up potatoes and cook in the water. This is a method that is used by cooks to reduce oversalted dishes. If the bacon fat is fresh the potatoes can be eaten or thrown away. Only eat if the bacon fat is VERY fresh.
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I have an excellent book which someone gave me called "The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher Birdfeeders and bird Gardens" by Robert Burton & Stephen W. Kress, published by the Audubon Society on Thunder Bay Press. (ISBN 1-57145-186-2) Not only does this book have excellent pictures of birds, it has dozens of plans on how to make bird feeders, nesting boxes, bird baths and how to plant a landscape garden to attract birds. There is one whole chapter devoted to bird feeds and what birds they will attract. In addition to the common seeds and suet mixes they have a long list of table scraps that are great for attracting birds. They suggest making a wire cage and put your meat scraps in it, especially the fats that your trim off cooked hams or beef in addition to ham bones, beef marrow bones and even teh leftover turkey bones. A few other things that i found interesting was cooked spaghetti, cooked rice, uncooked pastry dough, baked potatoes with the skin on and stale cheese. Out of curiosity I baked a potato in the microwave, then sliced it in half and put it on my shelf feeder. It was a big hit with all the birds. Another thing that the birds here seem to like is orange peels. I saw a Blue jay pick up and orange peel that was 1/4 of the orange and fly off with it. If anyone is looking for a great how to book on building bird feeders or bird houses or making their own bird feeds I would highly recommend this one, especially if you are making bird feed because I am a bit skeptical of the health concerns for the birds when i read the recommendations of some books, but I don't think the Audubon Society would steer us wrong.
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i have googled use of bacon grease and also bing search and asked about it with a bunch of different audubon societys in different states. the majority of them recomend useing bacon grease as long as the birds have sufficient water supplys. I have used bacon grease for many years and have lots of birds but i do keep fresh water or heated water trays in winter. I usually mix equal parts of suet or lard or bacon grease or tallow or shortning with peanut butter and add some chopped nuts and then thicken it with cornmeal and rolled oats or grits or flour to make a paste. we don't eat a lot of bacon or fatty meats anymore but do save the fats and freeze them. and mix whatever i have on hand into the mix and the bacon grease is usually pretty well diluted down. Most say it attracts the woodpeckers and chickadees and nuthatches but i get almost every kind of bird i get eating mine. including the jays and juncos and finches ect.
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Cookie8: Are you making a statement or asking a question? Not trying to be picky here, just curious. Personally, I wouldn't use the grease/oil I'd get from frying meat of any kind to make bird food but that's just me. The spices you mentioned probably wouldn't do any harm but on the other hand, probably won't do the birds any good either. If the argument is that purchased lard is just a refined/rendered fat from (in this case) pork and isn't any different than oil/fat rendered from home frying/cooking of some meat product, I'll have to disagree.
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