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Sticking with Suet!

Nine months and six mildew covered suet dough cakes after first putting up our suet feeder, we got our first suet visitor. That first Red-bellied Woodpecker inspired us to be better stewards of the suet feeder and although the activity level increased almost imperceptibly through the winter, we were rewarded in the late spring when activity at the suet feeder increased dramatically. Now, our suet feeder is a core part of our birdfeeder activity around the house.

Our experience and the collective birdfeeding savvy of so many customers with similar stories have resulted in the following "truths" about feeding with suet:

Persevere- Songbirds find food primarily by sight and suet doesn't seem to look as much like a food source to birds as seed does. Therefore, they take longer to accept it as food.

Clean- Suet is rendered beef kidney fat. Old seed gets stale. Old suet gets rancid. You can scrape some of the mildew off and use what's underneath. Otherwise, change it even if no birds have used it. And don't worry about a melted mess, we only sell suet dough which won't melt in the Florida heat.

Time it- In Florida, suet season begins for most species when nesting activity is at a peak (late spring) and continues throughout the summer. This is the opposite from most of the rest of the continent. If you aren't patient, don't start in the fall when feeder activity plummets.

Associate with seed- Birds seem to find suet more readily when it is closely associated with a seed feeder. So, accessorize your seed feeder with a suet feeder or add a suet feeder to your feeder array. Ask us what might be the best way for you to do that.

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