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Jelly and Suet Loving Robin

12 years ago

I put out some grape jelly and oranges hoping to attract an oriole passing through (they don't stay around). A robin discovered it and really seems to like it. I've had to refill the containers a number of times. Also, I had some suet hanging in a mesh that no one seemed too interested in so I took it out and put it in a little dish and put it on the ground. Well a robin discovered that and cleaned up the whole thing. I didn't know robins would eat suet. This was home-made suet that had peanuts and sunflower seeds in it. Seems an odd thing for a robin to eat.

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Comments (3)

Pyewacket
12 years ago
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.
Pat Z5or6 SEMich
10 years ago
Thank you, thank you, zensojourner.
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I have a up red headed one that visits my feeder, but he swoops in quick grabs nuts and the larger pieces of dried fruit and then whoosh he's gone. The dowdy woodpeckers are the ones that love my suet feeders. I wish the red head would stay longer. I hadn't seen him for a couple of months, as the housing plan I live in cut down thousands of trees even ones very close to me and many of the birds moved on. I was so excited that he came back. He use to visit more when there was a thicket of trees for him to go to that was closer to my feeders.
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I make my suet mixture using suet or lard. I melt the fat in a glass bowl in the microwave until liquid. Then I add crunchy peanut butter, which melts in the hot fat. Then I add the dried ingredients - corn meal, flour, oats (usually ground in blender), ground eggshells, crushed nuts, a little jam or jelly, etc. The mixture is about 1/2 fat, 1/2 dried ingredients - maybe a little more dried. I aim for a mixture that is the texture of Play-doh - it clumps together easily for the suet log, but also crumbles into pieces that I spread in a tray feeder. I made the suet log over 3 years ago out of an old red Pine log and glued lots of perches and branches. It did not have much bark on it - which is fine, except that over time the log has darkened quite a bit, perhaps because of the oils in the suet mixture. Also, most of the perches and branches have broken and fallen off. This birds don't seem to care. If you put perches on the log, this will enable many more birds to eat more easily. However, this isn't necessarily a good thing because with mine, it enables the Starlings and Blue Jays to hog the suet log, and it encourages House Sparrows. My suet log is pole-mounted with a squirrel/raccoon baffle, so nothing gets onto the log but the birds. Here's what the suet mixture looks like - Some Bluebirds on the suet log a couple years ago. They don't eat that much on the suet log any more, because I usually spread crumbles in a tray for them.
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Well I thought I would put some shelled BOSS in the tray that hadn't been toasted in the sun and hard to see if the robin would eat them and yes, he seems to really enjoy them. Isn't that the strangest thing!
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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
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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
10 years ago
Last March I noticed a robin eating pieces of suet that were dropped under a suet feeder in the snow.

I was surprised so I hung another suet cage on an angle on the roof of the feeder figuring it would be easier for the robin to perch on. It worked. It wasn't too comfortable for the robin but it did manage to eat the suet.

You can see the robin eating on an angle and a downy eating upright here. The feeder has two regular suet cages.

Otherwise the robins come to eat the winterberry fruits and they love the water baths in winter.

Claire

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