Woodpecker species, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, jays and warblers alike enjoy devouring suet. It provides high energy food that aids survival during the harsh winter season.
With no-melt ingredients in their suet recipes, quality suet cakes will help your yard wild birds remain fed throughout the year. Mold them into shapes that match up perfectly with whatever feeders are used.
Contents
Easy to make
Suet cakes are simple to create and can be stored for several months in the fridge, making a nutritious treat that attracts birds like woodpeckers. Their ingredients can often be found at garden centers and wild bird supply stores. Homemade suet can help birds meet their nutritional needs during colder seasons when other food sources dry up.
Homemade suet recipes vary, but in general they consist of equal parts of lard, beef fat or natural peanut butter mixed with assorted seeds and dried fruit; other recipes call for oatmeal as well. Sugary ingredients such as syrup will not provide birds with sufficient energy and nutrients during wintertime.
To create a suet cake, simply mix the ingredients in a container that will fit into your suet feeder and cool and freeze the mixture until firm; this will prevent it from melting when put out for birds. Cakes of various shapes and sizes may be created – as long as they fit within your feeder!
Easy to store
Birds love suet, an animal fat made from cow and sheep kidneys and loins, because it provides immediate energy while providing fuel storage in cold weather. Furthermore, suet attracts an assortment of birds such as chickadees, titmice, goldfinches, woodpeckers, jays, sparrows and warblers that need immediate energy for winter survival.
Your options for rendered plain suet cakes or chunks include wild bird supply stores or garden centers, saving beef or pork drippings from meals you prepare at home, or asking your local butcher if he or she would offer any at a reduced or free price.
Homemade suet can quickly turn rancid if exposed to high temperatures or direct sunlight, so it’s best to only offer it during cooler months. There are, however, “no-melt” varieties that have been rendered multiple times to withstand higher temperatures; placing feeders in shaded areas will also help stop it softening rapidly.
No-melt suet
Birders can utilize no-melt suet in specialized feeders, open trays and hanging baskets. It’s simple to make and provides essential fats that birds need during summer when keeping warm or protecting young is key. Plus, migrating birds often turn to no-melt suet for sustenance during their journeys.
Suet is made with rendered animal fat that’s been formed into firm cakes to feed wild birds. You can mix in birdseed, nuts, fruits or other ingredients to attract more species to your feeder. While typically made using lard as its base material, vegetable shortening can also be used.
Duncraft’s no-melt suet combines high quality beef kidney fat and roasted peanuts into an easy to use product, without melting or dripping, for year round feeding with no waste and minimal mess. Woodpeckers, wrens, and other birds will find it attractive as an attractant source. Plus it’s simple to freeze! Simply store in an easily accessible place such as a muffin tin until ready for use.
Affordable
Birds are beautiful to watch, and using suet feeders effectively can attract large flocks to your yard. Suet cakes contain seeds and fruit to attract all types of bird species – you can usually find these at most wild bird supply stores at significantly less cost than bulk bags of bird seed!
Suet cakes made of premium ingredients will also attract birds more easily, while sugary ingredients won’t. There may even be recipes using fat trimmings from beef that you can find discounted or free.
Bird lovers enjoy providing bird suet throughout the winter and even summer months, and ready-to-use products may be best as they can easily be stored without melting away in storage bins.
