Go Watch Birds

I live in the desert southwest, Arizona, to be more specific. So it is always hot here, right? No change of seasons, right? Well yes and no. I spent my childhood and early adult life in way upstate New York. We really had a change of seasons there. Ninety degrees in the heat of summer and negative fifteen in the deep freeze of winter. Plenty of rain to grow lots of green to turn orange in the Autumn. The high temperature in Phoenix range from one hundred and ten degrees mid summer to sixty in the winter, still a pretty good range. True we don’t get the extreme  color I experienced in New York, but there is a change, spring is much more green then summer. So why all this talk of season changes? Autumn is here and winter is approaching. It is time to help the birds survive the winter with on of the many verities of suet bird feeders.

As you will find out, the temperature is something you want to think about when considering feeding birds with a suet based feed. Suet, from what I understand, is beef or lamb fat more specifically the more dense fat from around the loins and kidneys. You can put out beef fat for the bird to eat directly. If your temperature is above seventy degrees the fat will melt and become rancid. To keep this from happening you can render the fat by heating it and straining it. Then add peanuts and bird seed to a mold and pour the hot fat into the molds and let it cool. I will write an article with more detail on producing suet cakes in the future.

I recommend purchasing suet cakes pre-made. There are many different varieties available. The many suet cake feeders that accept commercially available bird suet cakes. You can purchase bird feeders that accept both seed and suet cakes. These suet cakes will attract many types of birds. Woodpeckers are the most popular suet feeders, as well as kinglets, bluebirds (bluebirds have been know to feed their nestlings suet), cardinals, jays, thrushes, starlings, and wrens to name a few.

For the winter months suet is a high calorie food for the birds to help maintain their body temperatures as the outside gets colder. Of course birds are not the only outdoor creatures that enjoy suet based bird seed cakes. Squirrels and other rodents will enjoy eating suet for all the same reasons. Adding a squirrel baffle to the pole or chain holding your bird feeder should keep unwanted diners away. Of course the squirrels need to eat too, so you may want to add a suet cage for the squirrels!

Filed under: Backyard Decorating, Bird Feeders on September 30th, 2009