Thanks for your information, Arthur. I am lucky as I only have one pair
of starlings but, since I saw them out there feeding 3 young, the worst
is yet to come! I live waaaay out in the country and I get birds and
rodents cleaning up under the feeders but it's all dirt and grass...well,
mowed down weeds, so the suet dropped on the ground is not a problem.
Since I am surrounded by ponderosa covered hills and meadows covered
(this year) in some kind of invasive weed, animals abound and there's
really nothing to be done. I just consider all the mice and other rodents
as a buffet for the owls and hawks. I will give that white suet a try.
Although it's fairly cheap to make my own suet, the cost may balance out
if I use a lot less. It's feeding the brown-headed cowbirds that REALLY
ticks me off, however that's a whole 'nother can of worms!

Regards, Joanne
jopowell2 at juno.com
Reardan (Spokane) WA


On Sat, 15 Jun 2002 11:16:03 -0700 "M.A.D." <agrimes94 at earthlink.net>
writes:
> Christine, Joanne, David, Tweeters:
> The subject of suet and starlings comes up every year. I have tried
> ALL
> the store bought feeders and cages during the first year or two that
> I
> started backyard birding, none of them worked. Finally I took the
> advise
> of one Kate Hammill and the "suet- Starling problem" is no more.
> First and most important use ONLY PURE WHITE SUET. No peanuts,
> peanut
> butter, seeds, bugs or whatever - birds only want the FAT (that
> what
> suet is). The rest is just filler to cut the manufactures cost
> down.
> Starlings do not like pure white suet, they will eat it of course,
> but
> they tend not to think (for some reason) that it's not worth all
> the
> effort.
> Which leads to second important part.... you have to make a feeder
> that
> takes great effort for starlings to get at. The best one I have
> found is
> your basic 3 to 4 inch round, dry log, like a small round piece of
> firewood, then you pick up a cheap 1 inch wide drill bit at Home
> Depot
> and drill a few 1 inch holes in it. I put 2 holes on each side and 3
> in
> the middle. Fill the holes with pure white suet and you are set.
> Hang it
> from a pole or from a tree branch. The birds you want to attract
> don't
> need a landing perch. (if you use a pole you will still need a
> squirrel
> baffle) You still may get a few Starlings that will hover in front
> of it
> picking at a piece or so, but in time they will give up. It just
> isn't
> worth all the effort to them.
> The only time I see Starlings now is this time of year when they
> are
> feeding young. They usually only walk around under the suet feeder
> looking for big pieces dropped by flickers.
> You can get pure white suet at Wildbird stores in tubs and cakes.
> You
> will not find it in any of the big retail outlets or chain stores.
> It is
> worth the extra effort to find it.
> Regular visitors to our feeder are: Northern Flickers, Downy and
> Hairy
> Woodpeckers, Bushtits, Black Cap and Chestnut backed Chickadees,
> Nuthatches, Warblers, Kinglets,Wrens and on occasion even a
> Pileated
> woodpecker or two has stopped by! We keep it filled even in spring
> and
> summer and the birds use it even more then to feed there young.
> If you are interested in a picture of the type of feeder I use,
> email me
> and I can send you a pic.
>
> arthur
>
> agrimes94 at earthlink.net
> Edmonds, Wa. 98020
>
>


Regards, Joanne
Reardan (Spokane) WA
mailto: jopowell2 at juno.com