Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ DIY Heart Bird-Feeders ♥

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Rebecca's Bird Gardens ♥ DIY Giant Sugar Pinecone Suet Feeder

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DIY Suet Wreath

Male and Female Downy Woodpeckers
Tufted Titmouse

I recently conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give:  Creating a Bird Garden

But - this class was all about creating bird-feeders and I came up with a few originals and I experimented with several I found on the Internet. For this DIY suet wreath, here the link to one of the best tutorials I found: Create a Suet Bird Seed Wreath

I've been making my own suet for years and I am sure the birds prefer my homemade version over a purchased suet cake... In fact, I've never had a bluebird visit a suet feeder at my property unless it contained my homemade recipe! In addition to coating pine-cones with my suet mixture, I've been experimenting with some other options to offer this food supplement. Here's my recipe and the link to what I've came up with so far... DIY Suet Feeders

Suet Recipe
1 cup lard  ~ You can render your own suet from beef fat (it's an all day process), but I prefer purchasing lard, which is pork fat.
1 cup chunky peanut butter
Melt the lard and peanut butter together, then add:
3 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
4 cups birdseed

For the suet wreath, I added the following to the basic suet recipe:
1 package unflavored Knox gelatin dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water

Add the prepared suet mixture to a greased Bundt pan. I also picked up a helpful tip from the tutorial above and added a wire ring insert. - Place half of the suet mixture into the pan, add the wire ring, then the remaining suet. Pack the mixture down thoroughly into the pan with the back of a metal spoon. Refrigerate overnight. Allow the wreath the return to room temperature and it should be easy to remove from the pan. I added braided strips of burlap to use as a hanger. This wreath holds up much longer than you would expect and the wire ring insert helps to keep it from falling apart.

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

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DIY Suet Feeders

I'm preparing a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give:  Creating a Bird Garden

But - this class is all about creating bird-feeders and I've been trying a few DIY feeders I've found over the Internet. I've been making my own suet for years and I am sure the birds prefer my homemade version over a purchased suet cake... In fact, I've never had a bluebird visit a suet feeder at my property unless it contained my homemade recipe! In addition to coating pine-cones with my suet mixture, I've been experimenting with some other options to offer this food supplement. Here's my recipe and what I've came up with so far...

Suet Recipe
2 cups lard  ~ You can render your own suet from beef fat (it's an all day process), but I prefer purchasing lard, which is pork fat.
2 cups chunky peanut butter
Melt the lard and peanut butter together, then add:
6 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
8 cups birdseed

Suet Log
Pretty much self-explanatory... I took a log, drilled random holes with a 1 inch spade drill bit. Then I drilled a hole in the top and added an eye bolt. I then filled the holes with suet and immediately the birds visited this "natural-looking" feeder...

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

White-breasted Nuthatch

Tufted Titmouse

Grapevine Suet Ball
Purchase a grapevine ball from a craft store. Cover it with Glad Press'n Seal Wrap (it's the only wrap that works), pull the twigs apart on one side to make a hole and scoop in suet that has cooled to a "moldable" stage. Add twine or jute to hang the feeder. Refrigerate the ball until harden. Remove the plastic wrap - hang up the feeder - watch the action!
Update: The twigs of the grapevine ball are not strong enough to hold the weight of the suet. In my later version, I added a wire that went through the ball and supported the bottom.

Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch

Blue Jay and Downy Woodpecker

Male Downy and Male Hairy Woodpeckers. They are lookalikes until they're side-by-side!

Orange Suet Feeder
Pretty simple... This would be a fun craft to do with children. 
Take an orange - cut it in half - scoop out the inside. Attach twine or jute (I used a wooden skewer to poke a hole and push the jute through). This feeder lasted a couple of days then one disappeared. The next day I discovered the mystery of the missing orange feeder!

Tufted Titmouse

Eastern Gray Squirrel:  the culprit...

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