The birds love homemade peanut butter suet dough. Today I had chickadees, woodpeckers and juncos nibbling away at it. Here’s a female red-bellied woodpecker and a chickadee enjoying a meal.
Other birds that like this treat are bluebirds, titmice, nuthatches, jays, wrens, thrashers and towhees.
The basic recipe is simple and only takes a few minutes to make. I’d like to take credit for it, but I found it in Bird Watcher’s Digest. I used vegetable shortening instead of lard; the birds didn’t mind.
Ingredients
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup lard or vegetable shortening
- 2 cups plain yellow corn meal
- 2 cups quick oats
- 1 cup flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- raisens (optional)
- chopped nuts (optional)
Preparation
Melt peanut putter and shortening or lard in large pan on low heat. Add remainder of ingredients and mix well. Pour into a pan allow to harden at room temperature. Chop into chunks or squares for suet cage. I like to use the plastic molds that the store bought suet comes in. Can also be served crumbled in a shallow dish. Store in baggies in refrigerator or at room temperature.
Now sit back and watch the birds. They know a good thing once they find it.
will this melt in the sun??
Yes, it will melt if the air temperature is warm. I only use this suet in the winter. It stays firm even in the sun when it’s cold out.
Once spring and warm temperatures arrive I switch to the store bought no-melt type.