Beak Smacking Good Bird Suet

A chestnut-backed chickadee takes a bite of Beak Smacking Good Suet on a cold winter day; note the piece of cardboard placed behind the suet container to push it closer to the front of the suet cage.

I adapted several recipes found on the internet to make this suet, which many species of birds seem to enjoy, including chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, jays, and juncos. I use the cut-off bottoms of half-gallon cardboard milk or juice cartons, about 3/4 inch high, washed out well and air-dried, to spread the suet in. These fit easily into most commercial bird suet cages. You may have to put a piece of cardboard or other backing behind the suet container to push it up close to the front of the suet cage.

Ingredients:

1 cup of lard (I use half of a 16 oz block package of Morrell Snow Cap Lard)

1 cup, more or less, of peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

1/3 cup of sugar

1 cup flour (I use unbleached white flour, but any will do)

1/2 cup of yellow corn meal

1/2 cup of millet (in bins or in a package in the supermarket)

2 cups of quick cooking oatmeal

1) Put lard, peanut butter, and sugar in a large microwave-safe bowl; soften by heating on Medium for about 45 seconds. Then, mix the softened lard and peanut butter together with the sugar.

2) Add flour, corn meal, and millet, and mix well into the lard-peanut butter.

3) Add oatmeal and mix well; the suet mixture should be thick and fairly firm.

4) Portion out the suet into 6 cardboard bottoms, pat down evenly in each container, and store in refrigerator, or freeze, until used.

A block of prepared suet mixture in a container made by cutting off the bottom of a cardboard milk carton; note the cow noses!