Birds dont eat Suet?

[Jayhad]

I've been feeding birds for a few years now during the winter, this year I tried suet, the birds haven't touched it.
What gives?
Do birds in Calgary not like suet?

Give me your thoughts

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Jayhad

I've been feeding birds for a few years now during the winter, this year I tried suet, the birds haven't touched it.
What gives?
Do birds in Calgary not like suet?

Give me your thoughts

Magpies, Crows, and Blue Jays love it. For most that love is not reciprocal.

[erkel1]

Flickers and woodpeckers are the only thing i see on mine in med hat. The blue jays only seem interested in the peanuts in the shell i put out, and they got them stashed everywhere around my yard.Either they have incredible memories where they put things or they are just greedy jerks.

[Jayhad]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Magpies, Crows, and Blue Jays love it. For most that love is not reciprocal.

As I thought, I dig maggies, them nor the blue jays will touch this stuff. I wonder if I got a bad smelling/tasting batch...

[lmtada]

Break it up real small. Then blue jays will come.

[DougC]

It also makes a big difference if it’s good quality suet from a bird store versus cheapo stuff from a grocery store. Everything in my yard eats it except finches very rarely. Sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, flickers, jays, and whatever migrants we get stopping by.

[Tracer77]

My thoughts are the same as DougC. If you have a good quality suet then many birds will eat suet. We have all types of woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, magpies, blue jays etc.

[makin tracks]

i found it advantageous not to attract woodpeckers and flickers!


they make holes in wood on houses, power poles and your trees. best to discourage in my opinion.

[TrapperMike]

Wife puts one out every 3 days. She has sparrows, chickadees, magpies, woodpeckers at it. Even says she saw a swallow the other day.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by makin tracks

i found it advantageous not to attract woodpeckers and flickers!


they make holes in wood on houses, power poles and your trees. best to discourage in my opinion.

There is a house nearby that the owners have done nothing about flicker damage. The house is riddled with holes and it is or was an expensive house. Have to thinks there is water damage now. Holes are so big there are birds nesting in them.

Right now the flickers are banging on the metal roof vents to attract mates.

[bagwan]

Must be our proximity to Trapper Mike as we go though a couple suet packs in a week with all kinds of birds. Suet is buck each at dollar Store. Just peeked and its made in Quebec so dem dere guys make good stuff.

[CNP]

Nuthatches, chickadees, sapsuckers and woodpeckers on ours. Solid chunks in a cage that they can get their beaks into.

[Pioneer2]

Seems preferred to the store bought which mine won't touch.

[alacringa]

I put it out for woodpeckers several times. Magpies destroyed it. I quit.

[mryimmers]

My wife buys the dollar store stuff, everything around here seems to like it.

[realist]

Save all the fat trimmings from steaks, pork, etc. Put in a mesh bag, like the ones that oranges or lemons come in. Squeeze all the trimmings together at the bottom of the mesh, tie off to keep it compact, and hang it up. All the birds from the regular feeder also peck away at the mesh bag.

[Pioneer2]

Well the woodpeckers come to the deer suet and the merlins nail them .......so I guess technically I'm still feeding the birds.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Jayhad

As I thought, I dig maggies, them nor the blue jays will touch this stuff. I wonder if I got a bad smelling/tasting batch...

The store bought stuff goes rancid pretty quick if not refrigerated. I'd give it s sniff, if it smells odd it's probably rancid. A couple of years ago I bought a bulk pack of the stuff, half of it went rancid and the birds wouldn't touch it once that happens. Lost money on that deal.

Another thing to consider.
What they sell in stores is not suet, it's rendered animal body fat, mostly beef fat.
Suet is organ fat. Totally different texture and nutrient makeup.

I have store bought blocks they call suet, the birds pick at it but don't seem to like it much.
This winter I procured about 20 pounds of real suet. The birds are ignoring the store bought stuff now and cleaning up the real stuff at an amazing rate.

For those who think Woodpeckers do damage to houses. That has not been my experience.
I have several woodpeckers and a few Flickers that nest on my property and the Woodpeckers are here every day year round.
I've been here ten years and no issues with them causing damage. They do like to hammer on tin during the mating season but they don't touch any wood that isn't infested with insects, at least not on my property they don't.
Maybe the house they damaged had termites or something.

I suppose it might be that they don't damage my house because there are a lot of dead and dying trees on the property that keeps them busy, but my bird books say they only damage wood that is rotting or infested. Seems to be true here.

Sapsuckers are a different matter. My sister has several Maples and a few birch, and she feeds birds too. The sapsuckers have damaged all of her maples and birch so they are not welcome, but she encourages the Flicker, they mostly eat ants, and hunt them on the ground. And she doesn't mind the normal woodpeckers. They haven't damaged anything on her property yet.

I would plant trees especially for Sapsuckers if we had Humming birds. The sap they release with the holes they make are survival food for Hummers.
But the forest around here doesn't attract Sapsuckers. No birch or Alder. and nobody I know in the immediate area has Maples either.

[antlercarver]

When I was trapping and used dead farm animals as bait, some of the dead farm animals would not be touched by predators or scavenging birds. Found
out these animals were given large does of antibiotics on the farm before
they died. These animals must have a different smell that can be detected.
If your suet comes from a rendering plant that picks up dead farm animals, that may be a cause. Rendering plants makeing pet foods may also make bird food.
I don`t think they would give that information on the label, no profit in that.

[Jayhad]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

The store bought stuff goes rancid pretty quick if not refrigerated. I'd give it s sniff, if it smells odd it's probably rancid. A couple of years ago I bought a bulk pack of the stuff, half of it went rancid and the birds wouldn't touch it once that happens. Lost money on that deal.

Another thing to consider.
What they sell in stores is not suet, it's rendered animal body fat, mostly beef fat.
Suet is organ fat. Totally different texture and nutrient makeup.

I have store bought blocks they call suet, the birds pick at it but don't seem to like it much.
This winter I procured about 20 pounds of real suet. The birds are ignoring the store bought stuff now and cleaning up the real stuff at an amazing rate.

For those who think Woodpeckers do damage to houses. That has not been my experience.
I have several woodpeckers and a few Flickers that nest on my property and the Woodpeckers are here every day year round.
I've been here ten years and no issues with them causing damage. They do like to hammer on tin during the mating season but they don't touch any wood that isn't infested with insects, at least not on my property they don't.
Maybe the house they damaged had termites or something.

I suppose it might be that they don't damage my house because there are a lot of dead and dying trees on the property that keeps them busy, but my bird books say they only damage wood that is rotting or infested. Seems to be true here.

Sapsuckers are a different matter. My sister has several Maples and a few birch, and she feeds birds too. The sapsuckers have damaged all of her maples and birch so they are not welcome, but she encourages the Flicker, they mostly eat ants, and hunt them on the ground. And she doesn't mind the normal woodpeckers. They haven't damaged anything on her property yet.

I would plant trees especially for Sapsuckers if we had Humming birds. The sap they release with the holes they make are survival food for Hummers.
But the forest around here doesn't attract Sapsuckers. No birch or Alder. and nobody I know in the immediate area has Maples either.

I'll check this out I bought a big box of suet from amazon, maybe its bad. Nothing will touch it.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Jayhad

I'll check this out I bought a big box of suet from amazon, maybe its bad. Nothing will touch it.

If there is a butcher who does farm animals in your neighborhood that might be a place to get either fresh trimmed fat or possibly real suet.

Most of the stuff available in local stores has been on a shelf for a while.
I suspect any such thing coming from Amazon might well be old stock that is past it's best before date.
There's a lot of stuff on those sites that is bought as surplus or NOS and sold as current stock.
I know a guy who buys discount stuff at Walmart and resells it on Amazon and makes a good living doing it.

Just some things to consider when buying online.

[Etownpaul]

I bought a 3 pack of suet cakes from home hardware and nothing will touch it either. Even the squirrels don't eat it, so its going in the garbage I think.

[mac1983]

Talk to a butcher and get real suet.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by Etownpaul

I bought a 3 pack of suet cakes from home hardware and nothing will touch it either. Even the squirrels don't eat it, so its going in the garbage I think.

Time to get some dried Meal Worms. Peavy Mart up here were selling them in 10 pound pails. They're a bit pricey but the birds sure love them once they figure out they are food. That can take a while but it's the same with most anything the local birds aren't used to.
I feed live Meal Worms in the summer and even they don't get immediate attention.

My store bought suet is from last year. I kept it in a freezer so it's okay. Even so it wasn't getting much attention. Not like the real stuff I have out now.

Even Peanut Butter gets more interest then store bought Suet around here.

We thread some spruce cones onto a stout string then plaster them with Peanut Butter, working it into the scales, and then tie it between two trees. The birds seem to like it. And they have to work to get it.

I'm told it is a good substrate for store bought Suet and that the organic kind is best.
I use brand name chunky. Some birds really like the bits of Peanut in the mix.

A person can add in anything birds eat. Dried Meal Worms could add protein, we add dried berry pulp from the fall jelly making or even dried whole Saskatoons.
I like to use fruit pulp from wild fruit because it costs me nothing, I know it's organic, and I know it provides essential nutrients including natural sugars the birds need. A person could also collect Rose Hips to add to the mix.

They are very high in vitamin C and other nutrients. Most birds eat them when they can find them anyway and they can be dried so they will keep for a long time.

[sdb8440]

Originally Posted by DougC

It also makes a big difference if it’s good quality suet from a bird store versus cheapo stuff from a grocery store. Everything in my yard eats it except finches very rarely. Sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, flickers, jays, and whatever migrants we get stopping by.

This is spot on....i tried Superstore variety this winter and only the magpies eat it. Other brands have been much more popular in years past.

[stuckincity]

I get stuff from pet stores that goes into a little cage that comes with it, and hang it on a tree in the back yard.
The stuff is gone in a couple of days.
Never seen anything eating it because I never hang around the bedroom window all day.