Feed Ground Birds Suet

These two Blue Jays found my serving of suet for ground feeding birds. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Feed Ground Birds Suet

A robin was flying into one of my suet holders on the side of a tree earlier this week. Temperatures were record low, barely above zero, and my heart went out to the bird. i’ve hand raised robins over the years and found them to be smart and engaging birds. i wasn’t sure why this one was in my garden by himself but he definitely was hungry.

Woodpeckers at the suet feeding stations tied to my oak trees. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Watching birds in my garden is one of my favorite pastimes. i maintain a bird feeding station outside my living room window with two large bird feeders, a couple of bird baths and several suet feeders. i keep them stocked more in winter than any other time of the year; winter is when the birds seem to need the help the most.

As i was watching the robin, a Bluebird joined him under where the woodpeckers were helping themselves to suet. They were waiting for suet leftovers to fall to the ground but I wasn’t seeing too many. That gave me an idea.

Kitchen grater makes quick work of cutitng up suet. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Using a kitchen grater, i turned a suet pack into smaller pieces so the ground nesting birds could get suet. Suet helps birds keep their metabolism up in cold weather.

Since we are in for record low temperatures over the next few days, I thought they would appreciate getting more ready access to suet pieces.

If you don’t have a grater, a kitchen knife will work just as well. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

if you don’t have a grater, a kitchen knife will work, too. just be careful as you shave off the suet pieces.

I tried putting a suet pack in the freezer for a few minutes; that helped make the suet shaving easier but it was harder to cut off the pieces. Now I keep the suet in the garage, which makes the suet packs hard enough to easily shave without worrying that I might lose a thumb.

Scattered suet and a little peanut butter for the ground feeding birds. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

To serve, i scattered the suet under the two suet holders tied to a tree where ground feeding birds would normally pick up on woodpecker leftovers.

It doesn’t take long for the word to get around that there are goodies on the ground.

The robin that inspired my feeding ground nesting birds now can get some. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Not only did I later see the robin getting a ground suet snack but an Eastern Bluebird pair were also helping themselves. Eastern Bluebirds start looking for nesting sites this time of year. Maybe the suet will encourage this new pair to settle somewhere in my garden.

Why birds? Birds collect caterpillars for baby bird food. By doing so, they help keep bug populations under control without my having to use chemicals.

Plus they are fun to watch!

Charlotte