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Attracting woodpeckers

11 years ago

I used a flip and peanut butter suet balls to splatter suet high up in a tree where wood peckers visit, and I have had some success, attracting downys and red belly wood peckers to my feeder, near by.
I am still trying to get the pileated wood pecker to feed.
I also hung a suit block in a dogwood tree when the berries were ripe and got a flicker and a yellow bellied sap sucker to feed, but for some reason after the berries were gone they stop feeding on the suet.
The peanut butter balls have to be chilled so they are firm on the outside but soft on the insideso they will stick. I also dusted them with flour to keep them from sticking to the flip.
My dog had a good time finding the balls that missed the tree.

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Comments (5)

ladyrose65
11 years ago
I'm new to bird watching but I use Purina's Bird Lover's Blend. I have at least 4 woodpecker's trolling about. They fight with the territorial Bluejays. Do you live in a cold area?
charmofinches
Original Author
11 years ago
I am in NW GA.
I have been trying to attract a local pileated woodpecker to my feeder with no luck so far.
He does not seem to know that suet and sunflower are food.
He comes to a certain dead limb so I thought if I could get something to stick, he may find it.
The red bellied woodpecker is the king of my platform feeder, even rules over the bully blue jays.
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Good tips Jason. Another good feeder is a peanut feeder. The birds have to peck at them to eat them. So the nuts last longer than seeds and it feeds all sorts of birds... nuthatches, titmice, downy woodpeckers, etc. I have a combination of feeders, sunflower, mixed seeds, peanut, tray and suet feeders. I also have lots of plants in my yard that have seeds on them for the birds. Its not uncommon for the birds in my yard to flitting back and forth between the dried up coneflowers, asters, cupplants and the bird feeders.
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charmofinches
Original Author
11 years ago
I am in NW GA.
I have been trying to attract a local pileated woodpecker to my feeder with no luck so far.
He does not seem to know that suet and sunflower are food.
He comes to a certain dead limb so I thought if I could get something to stick, he may find it.
The red bellied woodpecker is the king of my platform feeder, even rules over the bully blue jays.
ladyrose65
11 years ago
I hope someone with more bird feeding experience answers; because I have never dealt with suets. I would love to see a Pileated woodpecker?
dbarron
11 years ago
I've never had a pileated come to a feeder. I've only seen them on dead trees in the area. I find it interesting that your red bellied was the boss, the squad of blue jays were able to drive mine off temporarily.

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