Winter 2006

Table of Contents

Most Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary managers who provide supplemental feed for birds include suet on their winter menu, knowing that it’s a good high-energy substitute for insect-eating birds at a time when insects are scarce.

What is this thing called suet?

Most Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary managers who provide supplemental feed for birds include suet on their winter menu, knowing that it’s a good high-energy substitute for insect-eating birds at a time when insects are scarce.

But do you know what suet actually is, and the differences between commercially available suet products and the “raw” kind?

Suet is the hard fat surrounding beef kidneys. It is inexpensive, or sometimes even free, available from butchers and many grocery store meat counters.

If the temperature outside is below 70 degrees, you can simply place chunks of this raw suet in a plastic mesh bag, wire basket, or some other kind of feeder for use by everything from brown creepers to woodpeckers.

If outside temperatures rise above 70 degrees, raw suet may become rancid and melt. That’s when you need to either do some processing of the suet, or buy manufactured suet cakes.

Suet must be "rendered" to make it less prone to spoilage and melting. Rendering is a process of cooking the suet to melt it down, and straining it to remove bits of meat. (Those bits of meat are what spoil suet or make it rancid.) Once the melted, strained suet is cooled, it can be frozen for later use. If you re-melt it and strain it again, it becomes harder and will not melt as easily.

If all of that sounds like a lot of work, you can buy lard, which is rendered animal fat (not necessarily beef), or prepared bird-feeding suet cakes. Some commercial suet cakes have bird seed and other ingredients added, either as extra enticements for the birds, or to reduce the amount of actual fat so they can be used year-round without problems. Check package information and recommendations for use and storage.

A warm-weather alternative to suet is peanut butter, although there’s some debate about whether the sugar and preservatives found in some peanut butter is healthy for birds.

Hang raw or minimally processed suet in the shade when temperatures might temporarily rise above that 70 degree cutoff to reduce chances of spoilage. Keep it out of the reach of dogs or cats, or you will be going through a lot of suet (and possibly digestion problems with your pet!)

Starlings are also very fond of suet. To discourage these non-native competitors, offer suet in a feeder that requires birds to feed hanging upside down (a covered cage accessed from the bottom only.) Woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches and other birds that cling to tree bark to feed on insects, will reach the suet easily, but starlings generally will not. Hungry, persistent starlings can be creative, however; some will flutter up and knock pieces of suet out of such feeders with their bills, then feed on the ground below

If you like the idea of making your own suet, and adding ingredients you have on hand, try the following recipes: