What unusual birds have you seen on your PB/suet feeder?

I'm getting our peanut butter feeder (peanut butter, bacon fat, cornmeal, oatmeal, cooked grits, birdseed, nuts, and dried fruits) ready to put out for the winter and I was reminiscing about the birds that I hadn't expected to see on it. We had a Pine Warbler visit regularly last winter and even had a Yellow-throated Warbler come on the coldest days. Our chickadees practically raised their first set of babies on it. I'm curious about others' experiences. What birds have surprised you by coming to your peanut butter and/or suet feeder?

Last year during late winter...I had a first year Yellow Rumped Warbler for a few days that ate at the suet feeder. It was so cute...I had never seen one before!

I've seen a Yellow-rumped eat a bit of stale cake, but I didn't know they'd come to suet. I'm convinced that warblers are the cutest of all of the U.S. birds.

I put PB Suet out in the winter as well. The birds seem to like it much better than the store bought stuff. My recipe is very similar to yours except I use lard and I don't use grits. I use chunky peanut butter and then add some of whatever seed mixture I have on hand. The birds down here don't seem to like fruit very much.
I can't remember a specific, unusual bird that has come to it but I saw a ferel cat eat some of it once!

LOL, well that's really different cb!

No unusual birds here either, but my Dogs eat the stuff I drop on the ground. silly dogs.

ewwwwwwwwwww. Bad dog!

YUCK!

That's what the dog's owner thought too ;-)
(and me!!)

Gee Resin, That's GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My doggie eats the suet that falls on the ground too.

My dog polished off what was left in the bowl as I was trying to get the feeder up. All of the birdseed went straight through as I discovered the next day. Dogs - gotta love them, but they can be gross.

My dogs will also eat the suet and cow manure! Yuk...they don't get kisses from me that is for sure!!

I like seeing the Junco's,Titmice and even sometimes Cardinals eating the suet.

I had a Downy Woodpecker that would visit the feeding cage all last winter and eat the homemade suet. I had to keep the homemade stuff in the cage or the Starlings would eat it up in no time!

I've never had a Downy come to the PB feeder. They'll take sunflower seeds occasionally. Cardinals have tasted it, but flew off quickly for better pickings somewhere else. I think I'd kill to see a Junco. I've not had the nerve to make real homemade suet. You melt down the fat or can you buy it? I've heard that the smell is noxious.

My dog did eat so many BOSS one time that he puked all night long...ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I noticed the Yellow-rumped Warbler eating on the suet feeder last winter.

Yes, Pillita, the lard that I use in my suet does have a distinctive smell but not that offensive, not to me anyway. The birds love it and it doesn't take long to make. I pour it out in a pan and freeze it then cut it or break it into pieces and place it in the cage feeders. The rest I place in zippered plastic bags and put in the freezer until its refill time.

I'm not sure if it's unusual but I have a mockingbird that eats my suet. It's the only thing I've seen that eats it, actually. (Other than squirrels, and my dog)

I've never seen a Mockingbird on a feeder at all. Catbirds seem to like it though.

I had Mockingbirds on mine last year.

Oh, I did see a Carolina Wren at ours this summer for a few days.

During a bad ice storm a year+ ago, everybody ate suet! The stress of the sudden change in the weather, coupled with the loss of habitat as several inches of ice took down their homes, had them eating to save their lives. I was a first year feeder and didn't know that the seed eaters usually did not eat the suet. It was almost orderly, the way they waited their turns. I had 3 blocks and PB smears on trees and 2 blocks hanging on a pole feeder. They seemed to wait in line by sex and type. The males first, then the females and the young adults. It was the first time that I had ever seen blue jays wait on anybody! Usually they crash in and take what they want. After that first try, even they waited. This continued for at least a full day after the thaw, and then the seed eaters went back to their seed and I only put out a little more than normal fats for the rest of the winter.

We also enjoyed a Pine Warbler very early one spring - still snowy and so cold. Glad he had some high-energy suet to eat. And, a few years ago a European Starling came to the suet for a while - he was amusing though not particularly welcome!

I can't imagine feeding birds in the snow. It gets down to freezing five or six times. We even have butterflies periodically all during the winter. Florida probably gets all of your goldfinches and sparrows - they're just not as pretty while they're here. The only bird I've seen send the Blue Jay flying is the Red-bellied Woodpecker. The only one I've ever seen him give way to was the Red-headed Woodpecker. I guess it's the "pecking" order.

Gold Finch stay here all winter and some of the sparrows are here too.

I only thought I had them all then. My mom kept putting seed out whenever the feeders got empty which eventually turned into twice a day. They were everywhere. I told her we're sticking to filling feeders every other day this winter. We visited Kentucky last November. That was the first time I saw Juncos, White-crowned Sparrows, and Song Sparrows.

I finally got a picture of the mockingbird on my suet. He loves it!

oops duplicate entry


This message was edited Nov 23, 2008 8:18 PM

When he got done eating, he would perch somewhere else to wipe off his messy bill

great capture..who knew!!

I had 6 bluebirds and a couple of yellow rumped warblers eating suet last winter. They didn't like the suet baskets so when they showed up, I experimented with different containers etc....but what they really liked were the cakes that I would leave on the deck rail. I had an occasional crow raid these cakes since they were exposed but it was worth it!

I may have to try that on my platform feeder. We had a Pine Warbler checking out the bird feeder this morning, so I just put out my peanut butter mix today.

I could never put out a suet cake like that... the squirrels would devour it in one day!

We have lots of squirrels here but they don't bother with the suet. I have never understood that given how hard they work to get at every other feeder!

I have a platform feeder. Sometimes I take the suet cakes out of the feeders once they get sort of small and put it on the platform and refill the suet feeder with a new cake. It always gets ate.

nanny....I do that with my "used" suet cakes also. It's funny: the woodpeckers lose interest if the cake gets small in the basket but when it goes to the platform feeder, all of the sudden, they have renewed interest in it. And a chunk that had been neglected for several days will be gone in an afternoon.

I've seen a Gray Catbird eating suet before.
I also put the small bits of leftover suet in my platform feeders and the cardinals will eat it then