Saturday, April 14, 2012

Suet Feeder Fiasco!

I decided to add a suet feeder in order to entice birds not only into my backyard, but also to the front.  I elected to hang it on the trunk of one of my gigantic black walnut trees, in order to convince woodpeckers to visit the front yard.


It's been a few days, though, and aside from one squirrel (Who merely glanced at it in curiousity), I've had zero visitors.  I'm beginning to think this may not be the ideal location.


Granted, it takes a while for birds to recognize a new feeder as a safe place to eat, and realistically, it can be a few days before anyone visits at all.  Patience, therefore, is required with any new feeder.

My gut tells me I may have done something wrong, though.  I've seen birds that should be quite happy with the fruit and seed mixture within this suet feeder, so I know they're out there. 

I also know that there are plenty of woodpeckers, since I watch them in my yard quite frequently.  Woodpeckers are suet eaters, and they enjoy feeders that are tree mounted.  This should work.  Now, you may think that my suet choice is the problem, as woodpeckers aren't fruit feeders, and that's a valid argument, but the suet I chose has a nut and seed base, and woodpeckers enjoy nuts.

Hmmm...

Looks like I have more research to do.  This could be a simple time issue, but I could also be doing something very, very wrong.  Feeder movement may be necessary.  Tree location, for one, may be a problem.  It's in the front, near a sidewalk.  The sidewalk isn't heavy traveled, but it does get some foot traffic in the early evening.

I'll be doing extensive research, but any comments would be greatly appreciated.  I'm new to the whole bird feeder thing, and while I enjoy experimentation, as was seen with my ground feeder attempts, any true knowledge from somebody with more experience (which pretty much means any experience) would be welcome!

2 comments:

  1. I just put one up just like yours. But no takers. I've seen a few birds sit on a tree stump near by and look at it but then fly away.... what the heck! lol Have you had any luck and did you make any changes?

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  2. Nope! I actually never got a single bird to visit. After I moved across the country, however, I set up a new suet feeder and ended up having a gigantic pileated woodpecker show up. *That* was a crazy sight to see! I have two theories about that: 1) I chose the wrong feed block, or 2) location really does matter. The second feeder was a few feet outside of a greenbelt.

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