Q. Is there a way to keep starlings off of my suet feeders?
A. Some suet feeders are designed to be "upside down" or downward suet feeders. These feeders are covered on the sides and top, allowing access to the suet only from the bottom. Nuthatches, titmice, chickadees and woodpeckers can handle the upside down position required for feeding but the starlings find it much more of a challenge.

  

Q. Should I feed suet in the summer? How do I keep it from melting?
A. Commercially available suet cakes have been rendered and will hold up well in the heat, especially when located in a shady spot.

Q. Can I make my own suet and how do I serve it?
A. You can place your suet cakes in one of the inexpensive, commercially manufactured suet cages. You can also make your own simple suet feeder by using a small limb that has fallen or been trimmed from a tree. Cut the limb about 12-18 inches in length (a limb 2-4 inches in diameter works well) and drill several holes about 1-2 inches in diameter and a couple of inches deep. Add a hook to one end of the limb and you have your own suet feeder. Fill the holes with the suet you made and hang the feeder in your preferred location. The natural and feel of this kind of feeder seems to make them very popular with the birds.

Suet Recipes - The following suet recipes are compliments of the National Bird-Feeding Society.

Birdie Granola

* 1/2 cup chopped rendered* suet

* 1/2 cup peanut butter

* 2 1/2 cups cornmeal

* 1 cup mixed birdseed

Combine ingredients and press into a jelly roll pan. Freeze until firm enough to crumble. Put the crumbles in a large bowl with some peanuts, birdseed, chopped apples, raisins and more chunks of suet. Mix well, then divide into single-serving containers and freeze until needed. To make even more substantial "granola," you might ad uncooked oatmeal, bran or pumpkin seeds.

 

Homemade Birdie Treat

* 1 1/2 cups peanut butter

* 1 1/2 cups corn meal

* 3 to 4 cups wild bird seed

* 3 cups rendered* suet (Suet, a special fat found near the kidneys in cattle, often is trimmed away before meat ever gets to your supermarket. Ask the butcher to special order some for you. To render, melt suet over low heat in heavy pan, cool, reheat and cool again. While it's in its melted state, add other ingredients.)

Add the first three ingredients into the rendered suet. Freeze in a cake or pie pan, cut into serving pieces as needed and put in a suet basket.

 

Tried and True Suet Treat

* 1 cup crunchy peanut butter

* 2 cups quick cooking oats

* 2 cups cornmeal

* 1 cup lard (no substitutions)

* 1 cup white flour

* 1/4 cup sugar

Melt lard and peanut butter together, then stir in everything else. Pour mixture into containers to about 1 1/2 inches thick. Freeze. Cut into squares to fit your suet feeder.