Cool, our Orioles like the suet too, I usually put out the orange dough kind for them they liked the normal suet and the peanut butter kind too. Donna

You are probably correct about the corn and millet but my intended purpose is to photo document as many species of birds as I can. To that end I put out a large variety of foods that will attract all birds, whether they are consodered desirable or not. In fact,as long as I keep the feeders full I see very little actual competion between any of the species. Now I will freely admit that sometimes I have to refill the feeders 2 or 3 times a day and I scatter a considerable amount of seed as well as Bread, orange peels and apples on the ground but I get the apples free and 10 loaves of bread for a dollar, and there is an upside to this method. 1. The Squirrels actually prefer the bread.: . 2. generally the starlings and sparrows prefer to feed on the ground, here again, often preferring the bread to the seed, not to mention that there is a flock of 31 wild turkeys that come in shortly after daylight to get the bread and corn that is left on the ground. Even the Bluejays and Cardinals prefer to feed on the ground and often I see a half a dozen species of birds feeding right alongside a squirrel or chipmonk and on two oc occasions I have seen a groundhog feeding with the birds. Now I am sure that I could get a more selective clientele if I changed the menu but at my house Nobody goes away hungry.

I'm curious as to why you're adding sugar/corn syrup/molasses to what is essentially a home made suet cake regardless of what product you use to take the place of real beef suet. I would assume that the only natural "sweet" wild birds might encounter would probably be in fruits and/or berries of one kind or another... therefore the question. On the other hand, if you're using the sweeteners as "glue" to hold a seed ball together, it possibly makes more sense... As to the "glue" that holds commercially available seed blocks together, its typically gelatin (think of old time school glue with the rubber top that you'd bend over to dispense the glue) although I've always assumed that a flour or corn starch paste would also work if you could figure out the correct consistency and have some way to dry out the block. I started making my own suet cakes last year since our back yard birds won't touch the commercial types. Note that I only use it during cold weather (in addition to two seed type feeders) and the birds scarf it right down. Recipe is simple and absolute amounts of this or that might vary up or down depending on what I have on hand... *I ea. small block of lard (one lb. size). Bacon fat might work I in a pinch but would contain salt and chemical residues from the curing process. *1 ea. small jar of chunky peanut butter *Sizable portion of cornmeal (the more coarse the better) *Heaping handful or so of rolled oats (acts as a binder) although steel cut oats work almost as well *Big handful or more of raw peanuts whizzed through the food processor just enough to break into smaller bits. You can also do this by smacking the peanuts between a hard surface (the anvil) and the bottom of a heavy pan (the hammer) but it's a lot messier since the broken bits tend to scatter everywhere.. *Handful of black oil sunflower seeds *Handful of plain birdseed *About a half handful of raisins And some amount of shelled sunflower kernels (salt free), safflower kernels, or other natural bird goodies as you see fit and might have on hand. Melt all together over medium to low heat and add more oats as necessary to obtain the desired consistency. I use a metal cake pan to pour the goop into until nearly cool, cut into the size required, wrap in tinfoil or plastic wrap and then store in the frig until needed. Steve

I hang my feeders off branches, off hooks, off chains....I've found my best option is to dose the suet and seed feeders with hot pepper. Even painted the tree I hang it all from. So far, I got almost zero furry critters, and a lot of happy birds. Almost zero- I have one squirrel that seems to have developed a bit of a taste for the hot. Even the birds leave the pepper seed alone in favor of other better seed. But I swear the one squirrel picks them out.