6 Homemade Bird Suet Recipes for Your Feathered Friends

Pseudo Suet Cakes Recipe

Linda Popejoy, Concord, North Carolina, says, “I work at a Wild Birds Unlimited store, and I’m always encouraging my customers to make their own recipes filled with fat (rather than sugars and grains) to best benefit the birds. Here’s my simple method for making suet-type food.”

• 2 cups shelled, unsalted peanuts
• ½ cup raisins
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cornmeal

Process peanuts in a food processor until they’re the consistency of peanut butter. Then add the raisins and process for another minute. Add the cornmeal and process again. Press this mixture into a mold of your choice.

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Spreadable Suet Recipe

Courtesy Mitchel Dickinson

“I like to spread my suet on tree limbs so more birds can get to it at one time. Here’s a recipe I’ve put together for homemade bird suet. The birds can’t get enough of it, even the juncos,” says Naomi Manalo, Middleton, Delaware.

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup flour
• ¾ cup water
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup lard
• 1 cup raisins

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Then add the water, and mix. Put peanut butter and lard in a small bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Add to the cornmeal mixture along with the raisins. Refrigerate for about two hours.

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No-Melt Suet Treat Recipe

Courtesy Susan Goewey

“Attract woodpeckers, as well as chickadees and nuthatches, with this homemade suet recipe. The best part is this suet mix won’t melt when it’s warm outside,” says Rebecca Beiler, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

• 1 cup lard
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 ½ cups oats
• 2 ½ cups cornmeal
• Raisins, nuts or birdseed, optional

Melt lard and peanut butter. Stir in oats and cornmeal. Add optional ingredients. Pour the mixture into a pan and chill in refrigerator over-night. Cut into squares and wrap in plastic for easy storage and removal.

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Readers Share Their Best Suet Feeding Tips

Courtesy Judy Roberts

Birds & Blooms readers and contributors share clever solutions to keep pests and critters away and serve suet to more birds.

• Attach a clear baffle or dome to keep both suet and visitors dry.
• Look for laminated coating on feeders, which helps protect bird feet.
• Larger woodpeckers, such as pileateds or flickers, may be more drawn to a feeder with a tail prop included.
• Hang suet feeders in a spot where they’ll be out of direct sunlight.
• If squirrels or bully birds are an issue, try a suet feeder with an upside-down or caged design.
• Add twigs to a cage-style feeder to enhance the access for birds. A fledgling red-headed woodpecker (above) seemed to appreciate the extra perch, says reader Judy Roberts.
• After the local deer kept stealing our suet, I finally found a solution. I use a simple pulley system that places the feeders out of their reach and saves me having to get up on a ladder, says reader Lori Bowers.
• Freeze your suet to keep it fresh for longer. My woodpeckers even seem to like it better that way, says reader Mark Kittrell.
• Slather a layer of peanut butter on your suet. It won’t last long! says reader Lori Lorraine.
• Raccoons figured out how to open my metal suet feeders, so I lock them with a carabiner clip. It works like a charm, says field editor Sue Gronholz.
• I use spreadable suet, which is sometimes called bark butter. Just smear it on trees and it attracts tons of birds. It gives visitors a natural perch instead of a hanging wire cage suet feeder, says reader Lynette Buckner.

Next, check out even more proven tips for attracting birds with suet.