How to Make an Easy Suet Bird Feeder

Hanging DIY Duet Bird Feeders

Why should you make a DIY suet bird feeder instead of just hanging out birdseed during the colder months? Wild birds need extra calories to survive the winter months. Where I live in Canada our yard is covered in snow for at least six months a year. It’s a really tough place for birds to survive. Although some birds fly far away, several bird species make the best of it. Other birds return early as our first hopes of Spring and their food is still quite scarce. Although birdseed helps, the extra calories found in suet are fabulous for our little feathered friends struggling with Winter.

The best suet for suet feeders is beef fat suet because animal fat is easily digested by many types of birds and has lots of needed calories, and beef suet is a hard fat that will hold its shape in warmer temperatures.

If you want to make sure what’s best for the birds the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a great page about Suet, Mealworms, and Other Bird Foods.

The Best Location for the DIY Bird Suet Feeders

You’ll need a suitable location to hang the feeder, such as near a tree or other spot where there is some shelter for your birds, where it’s out of the direct sun, such as an overhang. The best place is outside the front window on tree branches, just be sure that it’s not a window that birds will fly into.

I hung my suet bird feeders on a tree outside the back window so that the birds could sit on the branches and reach the feeder. I am hopeful they will notice the feeders as they seem to enjoy perching on this tree. The squirrels may find them instead, but they need food for winter too.

The backyard birds are so much fun to watch and it’s cheerful to watch them out the window. We have countless little birds enjoying the suet, and we have seen woodpeckers, and even several pairs of blue jays enjoying our DIY suet feeders.

How to Make a Suet Bird Feeder

Suet Bird Feeder DIY Supplies

Along with beef commercial suet, I was able to grab a Valentine-shaped mold from the dollar store. Any shape of silicone mold works well as it’s easy to pull the silicone off. Pick any shape you like, but it was close to Valentine’s Day and I thought hanging the heart-shaped feeders would be a fun family activity with my granddaughters.  And I like how the little hearts look hanging on the branches.  

Directions

Step 1 – Add the beef suet into a small pan, and place on the stove over low heat stirring occasionally. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes to soften. Stir it occasionally.

Note: I made the top half of the bird suet feeders in a video, those are the top ones you see that are almost finished. The bottom 3 Valentine shapes are the ones that show the individual steps for the still images.

Step 2 -Place your silicone mold on the counter, and add about 2 tsp of seeds in the bottom of each section.

Step 3 – Cut six lengths of the straw a little bit higher than your mold. Then place a straw in each section about where you want the string to hang.

Step 4 – Stir the melted suet until it is sort of smooth and then spoon it into each section.

Fill each section until there is about 1/4 inch of space left on top. Reposition the straw where you want the string to be strung through.

Step 5 – Before the suet hardens cover the top of the suet with birdseed.

Step 6 – Place in the freezer for a couple of hours until hard. Once hard remove from the freezer. Work over scrap paper or a garbage bag, flip the mold over, and the excess seeds will fall off. Then peel the silicone mold away from each suet feeder.

How to Hang Suet Without Needing a Feeder

Hanging Suet Cakes Using Twine

The hangers are made using 2-foot lengths of bakers or regular twine. Cut then flatten the end and push through the large-eyed needle.

Trim the straw so that it’s even with the top of your DIY suet bird feeder and then pass the twine through the straw.

Suet Bird Feeder DIY Video Tutorial

A simple video that shows how I made these specific suet bird feeders.

Want to have this information when it’s time to feed the wild birds? Save it to have it, and it helps my blog to grow.

Other Bird Themed Tutorials