Suet Bird Feed for Winter Bird Feeders
If you are looking for a good bird food for use in the winter
time, one of the best choices is going to be suet. Suet bird
feed offers the high energy food that warm blooded birds need
to survive the challenges of the winter months, and is in a
form that will last for a long time so you don't have to be
checking the feeder every day. You can make your own suet, or
buy it in a couple of different forms. One popular type is
the suet cake, which is often used in combination with a
suet feeder. These feeders
usually have a cage or some other container that helps
discourage squirrels and other pests from taking the
suet you are putting out for the birds. Another popular
way to use suet is to have a
suet ball, which as the name implies is
simply suet formed in a ball shape, often with a hanger
attached to simplify mounting it.
The
suet in feeders is usually made from beef
or mutton fat, and it is this fat that supplies the
energy in the food. But there are a variety of other
suet recipes that add to the suet mix. Sometimes just
simple flavorings are added, but it's also common to
boost the energy content of the mix by adding other
foods like cracked peanuts or grains. Berries and
raisins are used often as well, often for flavoring.
Another reason to vary the mix is to deter pests. One
favorite addition is
hot pepper. Birds are not sensitive to
the capsaicin in peppers, but most mammals like
squirrels are repelled by it. Combining a
hot pepper suet mix with
simple techniques like the use of baffles or simply
mounting the feeder in a location where the squirrels
and other rodents can't get to it will be fairly
effective.
Suet will start to melt when temperatures go above 70 degrees
F, so it's not a year round choice for a feeder. And once it
melts it will go rancid quickly, so as the spring
temperatures rise, remember to remove the suet and clean out
the feeders, and store them safely until fall, when our
feathered friends will appreciate the help getting through
the winter once again. To combat this, some manufacturers now
offer
suet cakes that have been treated to
withstand higher temperatures, so if this is a problem
for you take a look at these reformulated suet cakes.