Birds love to eat a variety of foods and there are many birds that love eating seeds and various seed mixtures. However there are other birds that prefer to eat suet. Suet is a high energy formula made from animal fat which is melted and then rendered. This meat mixture can be combined with fruits, seeds, peanut butter, or even grains. This mixture can then be placed in suet feeders, providing a quick source of heat and energy for hungry birds.

This is very essential for birds that burn a lot of energy from quick flying. Molting birds and migrating birds also need suet especially during the fall season. This is very needful because of the lack of insects to be found. Suet feeders provide these birds with the nourishment they need. In general, suet feeders are left for insect eating birds as these birds will find a lessening of their natural food source due to the cold weather.

Suet feeders come in two varieties. The normal type is that of the wire mesh cage. A suet cake is placed in the cage and the top is closed. The birds cling to the side of the cage to eat the suet. Bottom opening suet feeders discourage birds like Starlings because they need to cling upside down to get at the suet. Chickadees, Woodpeckers and Nuthatches on the other hand will be able to enjoy their share of the suet cakes. You can use an onion bag or some bag that is similar to the onion bag for an inexpensive suet feeder.

Woodpeckers, Kinglets and Nuthatches as well as Jays, Robins, and Starlings are some of the birds that’ll come to your garden if there are any suet feeders to be found. Warblers, Mockingbirds, Bluebirds, and Chickadees can also be found at suet feeders. Many of these birds don’t take food from normal seed feeders. Therefore if you want to see other types of birds like these, then investing in a suet feeder is advantageous.

The other type of suet feeders are natural logs that have holes drilled into them. The suet is plugged into these holes. Suet feeder logs that have perches on them will invite large birds like Bluebirds to eat from these suet feeders. To prevent squirrels from coming and eating the suet from these log feeders, you can place a suet plug mixture that has hot peppers in the holes. This isn’t harmful to either the birds or the squirrels but discourages the squirrels from coming back.

The birds who visit suet feeders generally eat their food near tree trunks. This makes it very sensible to hang the feeder near a tree trunk with about approximately 5 -6 feet distance from the ground.

By providing suet feeders to your garden visitors you not only help them during the cold season you also have a chance of seeing lots of new and different birds in your garden during winter as well as the rest of the year.