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 -

It was raccoons that got the first failed Bluebird nest, because they were good sized nestlings and one morning they were gone. So something got them overnight. I then baffled the snag using sheet metal flashing, and that DOES work for all climbing critters, but that didn't stop the House Wrens who got the final nesting. I knew it was wrens because I found an eggshell on the ground that had a tiny hole in the shell, and the Wrens were flocking around the nest hole later in the day (poor Blues). Dante, I can't speak for Lisa, but I don't "eradicate" House Wrens as they are native birds, just don't encourage them. They like brushy, shrubby areas (as do many birds, such as Cardinals and all Sparrows), and I've removed most of that. Also you can remove their sticks from a nestbox where they start to build a nest. Goldfinch, when the Blues were nesting, I did do a little House Sparrow control. I had a nest box installed on the side of the house that had a Van Ert trap in it. There are not a lot of House Sparrows here, but that did remove a couple of males that were trying to nest in the yard and may have posed a threat to the Blues.

I got one of those upside down suet feeders to discourage sparrows; but they are pretty capable of using it, as it turns out. Our downy woodpeckers love the feeder, as do nuthatches, chickadees, titmice, and also the occasional wren. I don't know about the other birds you mentioned, it seems they would be too large to be hanging off the feeder for long (cardinals, blue jays, etc.). Good luck!

Hi Bandz, I have a clinger feeder right now that the HOSP and the House Finches use and I also have an upside down suet feeder out for about 3 weeks with no chickadees using it. I will try to put next to the clinch and see what happens though. I want an upside down boss feeder though because this feeder is hung near my window and I find house finches make too much racket, I much rather hear the chikadees going for them, then the house finches, but I don't know if the upside down feeder they sell work because they usually say it only holds niger seeds.