If you want to attract even larger birds to your area, consider using suet cakes (http://goo.gl/jZUuxI) and a suet basket feeder (http://goo.gl/l1ey9u). This is a cheap and effective way to go. Cakes can be purchased in bulk, and the baskets only cost a few dollars.
Larger birds like this redbellied woodpecker love eating suet cakes from a tree-mounted basket. (Click the pic to get your own.)
As we’ve discussed, many birds love the fatty goodness of suet. Fat contains high amounts of energy (I should know – I’m storing large quantities of “energy” around my midsection).
Suet cakes are probably the most popular method of delivering suet. We buy the cakes in bulk quantities.
A single cake lasts a long time, so long as you can keep it away from the local raccoons. (More on this in a moment.)
Each cake comes individually packaged in a plastic container. It’s recommended that cakes be refrigerated before use, simply because cool suet is more easily removed from the container. But room temperature suet is no problem either.
To distribute a suet cake, simply place the cake inside a basket feeder. Then attach the basket feeder to a tree.
Why own a suet basket? Larger birds, like redbellied woodpeckers, may not want to land on a seed ball feeder. But these same birds are happy to grab a tree trunk and gobble suet from a basket.
Unfortunately, so are raccoons. If you have any raccoons in your area, you’re best advised to place this feeder where they can’t get to it. This might be very high on a tree. But for us? You guessed it: we put ours outside in the morning, and take it inside at night.
It works like a charm during the day. It’s a treat reserved for the birds.
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