Bird Feeding Basics: Other Bird Foods

Other Bird Foods

by BWD editor Bill Thompson, III

Peanut Butter.

Every feeder bird will eat peanut butter, especially woodpeckers, chickadees, and titmice. But it's not a food that you want to offer in great quantities, for two reasons. First of all, peanut butter is sticky and messy, so, like suet, it should be offered in a way that birds will not get it all over their feathers. Second, although it may be a myth that peanut butter sticks to the roof of a bird's bill, it's not inconceivable that a big wad of sticky PB could be difficult to swallow. For these reasons, we offer peanut butter in very small quantities when the weather is very cold. At other times of year we offer peanut butter as an ingredient in our bird pudding.

You can make a simple peanut butter feeder by drilling shallow one-inch holes in a piece of scrap wood, filling them with peanut butter, and hanging it up near your feeders. Gouge out a few toeholds underneath each hole to help the birds cling. If the food goes unrecognized, try sticking a few sunflower hearts in the peanut butter-the birds will soon get the idea.

Suet.

Suet is the dense white fat that collects around beef kidneys and loins. You'll find it in grocery store meat counters. It's amazing how many different species eat suet. All the regular seed eaters--chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers--will eat it, as will wrens, sapsuckers, warblers, orioles, catbirds, creepers, and others. A little suet goes a long way.

Keep this in mind about suet, though. In warm weather, put very small pieces out, because it liquefies and turns rancid after a few days in the hot sun. Rancid suet is no good for birds, and may make them sick. If you feel you must offer suet all summer, consider doing one of the following:

Offer suet in a cool, shaded location. Monitor the suet so if it does go bad, you can remove it.
Bring your suet inside during the hot part of the day.
Offer one of the commercially available rendered-suet cakes. Rendered suet does not melt so readily.

Suet Cakes.

Many people take convenience a step farther and buy commercial suet cakes. Some of these blocks are great; some are not so great. Avoid commercial blocks that have whole seed, like sunflower and millet seed, melted into them with the shells on. These slippery fat-covered seeds are difficult for birds to crack, so they may just be discarded.

If you buy cakes, buy those with easily edible ingredients like peanut hearts, sunflower hearts, chopped raisins, insect parts, or cornmeal.

In my experience the fuss of rendering suet or the expense of buying suet cakes isn't justified by any greater enthusiasm on the part of the birds who eat it. They're just as happy with the meat-counter lumps. Suet cakes are convenient for humans more than anything else, which is why they are so popular. Click here for more information on how to Build Your Own Suet Feeder.

Fruit.

When I noticed yellow-bellied sapsuckers, robins, and pileated woodpeckers eating the last shriveled apples and pears in our orchard, I began offering halved apples impaled on short twigs of the dead branches we put up all around our feeder.

You can offer raisins and currants. but these need to be chopped up and soaked in hot water to soften them. Mockingbirds, catbirds, wrens, and thrashers appreciate these most, although bluebirds and other thrushes will sometimes take them, too.

Save halved oranges and fruits such as cherries, peaches, bananas, and berries for spring and summer, when the orioles and tanagers that prefer them have returned from the tropics.

Go Your Own Way

The ideas I've shared are just suggestions. Don't be afraid to try new foods and feeder ideas on your feeding station visitors. And if you come up with a great idea, we'd love to hear from you. Our regular "My Way" column in BWD, and our bimonthly newsletter The Backyard Bird Newsletterare just two places where we share reader ideas with our subscribers. Remember-bird feeding is done as much for our entertainment as it is for the birds, but it's our responsibility to do it right.

Bill Thompson, III, is the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest and The Backyard Bird Newsletter. He lives with his family on a farm near Whipple, Ohio.

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