After years of trial and error I determined that the suet cake that attracts the most woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches to my yard is Naturally Nuts from Wild Birds Unlimited.
The ingredients are rendered beef suet, roasted peanuts, oats and corn.
But I follow a lot of local and regional birding groups, and they rave about this Woodpecker Treat suet that you can buy at Amazon.com.
This one adds a few more nuts. The ingredients are rendered beef suet, roasted peanuts, oats, corn, almonds, pecans and walnuts. It also has 10% more fat and 2% more protein.
I recently purchased a few Woodpecker Treat suet cakes to see how the birds like them compared to Naturally Nuts. And I have the perfect suet feeder to conduct that test. I’m trying out this one that has a cage for a suet cake on each side. I like woodpecker feeders that have the tail prop so woodpeckers can be more comfortable while they dine.
I’ve been having a terrible time with House Sparrows and Common Grackles hogging all the suet this year. The House Sparrows like to sit on top of the suet cage and peck away. I’m hoping that by using a suet feeder with a peaked roof those pesky birds won’t be able to get to the food as easily.
I’m excited to get the results of this side-by-side comparison, but it’s going to have to wait until the next time I refill the suet feeder. When I was putting it back on its hook I forgot to pay attention to which side was which, and it’s impossible to tell the competing suet cakes apart by looking at them. Oops!
I can share that both sides of the feeder have been popular with woodpeckers so far. That’s a Downy Woodpecker eating from the left side, and a Hairy Woodpecker eating from the right. You can see the Downy taking advantage of that tail prop to stay balanced!
