The 12th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count is only a few days away! February 13-16 are the dates. Last year, Alabama birders reported observations of 127,030 individual birds of 174 species and, as citizen scientists, contributed to our knowledge of the distribution and population trends of North American birds in mid-winter. Check out the results of last year's count at www.birdsource.org/gbbc or, better yet, count the birds in your backyard or park or town and report your data at www.birdcount.org.To attract more a greater variety of birds to your backyard feeders, try a "suet" feeder. You can buy commercial cakes, but we've had great success with a recipe from Martha Sargent of the Hummer/Bird Study Group in Clay, Alabama.
MARTHA'S SUET FOR BIRDS
1 cup lard
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups "quick" oatmeal
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup white flour
Measure dry ingredients and mix slightly. Melt lard and peanut butter over low heat or in microwave until just liquid...do not let it boil! Stir in the dry mix. Pour into square freezer containers about 1 ½" thick to fit your suet basket. Store the cakes in the fridge or freezer until you're ready to use them. The recipe makes about 8 cakes.
This is a great source of fat and protein for winter and springtime birds. Field testing here on Almosta Farm reveals that this recipe will attract downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, Carolina wrens, Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, yellow-rumped, pine and orange-crowned warblers, chipping sparrows, Baltimore orioles, and goldfinches (and the list seems to grow by a species or two each year). Folks who live further north should expect both white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches!
You can use a commercial suit feeder, but we like to make our own. It takes only a few minutes even for those of us with no discernible woodworking skills. All you need is a 1- to 2-foot stick, branch, or log of about 2-3 inches diameter with the bark removed. I prefer red cedar since it is highly rot-resistant and grows in abundance in our part of the world.
Drill 6 to 8 large diameter holes (I use the 1 1/4" bit) about half way through the stick. Experimentation reveals that a spiral pattern is probably best (the idea being that you don't want to be pooped upon by the guy feeding at the hole above you). Then drill ¼" holes about 1" below each large hole. Cut perches (3/16" X 3/16" X 3" pieces of cedar or whatever scrap lumber you may have) for each of the small holes. Lightly sand the corners of one end of each perch and (this is the part I like best) gently pound the square peg into the round hole! Screw a large cup hook in the top of the stick and you have a first class suit feeder. Now scoop some of Martha's recipe from your cakes, make a ball about the size of the hole and press it into the hole. Repeat until the suit feeder is full. Now hang it near some cover and watch the new birds begin to appear.
You can use a commercial suit feeder, but we like to make our own. It takes only a few minutes even for those of us with no discernible woodworking skills. All you need is a 1- to 2-foot stick, branch, or log of about 2-3 inches diameter with the bark removed. I prefer red cedar since it is highly rot-resistant and grows in abundance in our part of the world.Drill 6 to 8 large diameter holes (I use the 1 1/4" bit) about half way through the stick. Experimentation reveals that a spiral pattern is probably best (the idea being that you don't want to be pooped upon by the guy feeding at the hole above you). Then drill ¼" holes about 1" below each large hole. Cut perches (3/16" X 3/16" X 3" pieces of cedar or whatever scrap lumber you may have) for each of the small holes. Lightly sand the corners of one end of each perch and (this is the part I like best) gently pound the square peg into the round hole! Screw a large cup hook in the top of the stick and you have a first class suit feeder. Now scoop some of Martha's recipe from your cakes, make a ball about the size of the hole and press it into the hole. Repeat until the suit feeder is full. Now hang it near some cover and watch the new birds begin to appear.
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