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Suet Bird Feeders
Suet bird feeders come in many shapes and sizes. They are designed for many different purposes and functions. Suet offers energy-rich nutrition with its high fat content. Suet keeps birds warm during cold temperatures making it the perfect food for cold weather feeding. Manufactured suet bird feeders come in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes. They are well designed to provide an enjoyable bird feeding experience. Homemade bird feeders for suet bird food are simple and easy to make. Below, there are instructions for building your own suet bird feeder.  2. List of Styles
The picture to the right shows a single cake suet holder being enjoyed by a male Downy Woodpecker. There is also a clear acrylic fruit feeder in front. 
● Various styles of upside-down suet feeders are available that only clinging birds can use. ● Some suet feeders have tail supports to assist Woodpeckers. ● Mesh onion bags make ideal and economical suet holders. Simply fill with clumps of fresh suet, suet balls or suet cakes and hang the bag outside. ● Wire mesh or screen can be cut in a rectangular or square shape. Then attach the piece to a board on three sides by stapling it or nailing. Leave the fourth side open at the top creating a “wow” for a pocket to insert the suet. It may be necessary to attach a lid to keep Squirrels and other critters from carrying off the whole clump. ● Pine cones spread with suet and rolled in seed. ● Spread suet on branches of trees. ● Suet can be worked into the holes of a feeder log. (A chunk of log not too thick, that has been drilled at intervals and hung up for the wild birds; is natural looking and great fun.) ● Suet can be stuffed into holes in a tree or post. ● Try these handy containers to hold suet that has been rendered.
Egg shells Coconut shells Ice cream cones Hard taco shells Baked tart or pie shells Cup shaped fruit rind from oranges or grapefruit 3. Best Seed Choice for This Feeder Beef fat alone can be used or mixed with other fats or peanut butter. These bird foods are the glue for other ingredients that can be mixed in. Please go to Suet Bird Food Recipes for a comprehensive list of bird food that can be added to suet for tasty bird meals. 4. Positive Features ● Suet bird feeders will attract birds that will not come to other types of feeders. ● Suet bird food can be offered all year with proper preparation techniques and by placing suet bird feeders in the shade during warm weather. ● Bird suet does not have to be protected from the elements like seed. 5. Problems ● Suet bird feeders must be washed and disinfected more often in warmer weather. ● Suet can become rancid in warm weather. (See Suet Bird Food Recipes for solutions to this problem. ● Some people are concerned that birds can get their feet caught in the mesh of onion bags when used as a suet feeder. This is not a common occurrence and has rarely been reported. It should not prevent the use of mesh bags for bird feeding. ● Keeping suet out of the reach of certain animals or birds can take some effort. Starlings or Blackbirds (Grackles) can be a particularly persistent, aggravating problem for suet feeding. A group of these birds can clean a suet feeder out quicker than can be believed. Put out a fresh supply of suet and come back fifteen minutes later and it’s gone! What can be done to solve this problem? ● Use pure suet with nothing mixed into it. ● Use suet only mixed with nyjer, and or safflower seed. ● Stop offering suet for a period of time, such as two weeks, then try again. Hopefully the unwanted visitors will have moved on. ● Use an upside-down feeder. Only clinging birds are able to use this type of feeder, such as Chickadees, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers. 6. User Opinions Anyone who has never used a suet feeder and does, is always delighted with the results. People who feed the birds rave at the wide variety and number of wild birds that visit their suet bird feeder. Many species of Woodpeckers and insect eating species will rarely come to a regular seed feeder. But they will sit in the trees waiting their turn at a suet feeder. 7. List of Birds Attracted to a Suet Bird Feeder Suet has the advantage of attracting birds which eat predominantly seed or insects.
Downy Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker → Northern Flicker Pileated Woodpecker Three Toed Woodpecker Black-backed Woodpecker Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch
Purple Finch Blue Jay Gray Jay Black-billed Magpie American Crow Common Raven Starling Common Grackle (Blackbird) The following list of bird species can be observed eating suet from time to time.
Cardinal Golden-crowned Kinglet Dark-eyed Junco Northern Shrike White-winged Crossbill More Types of Bird Feeders Suet Bird Food Recipes  
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It is also the ideal food for high activity times like spring.
