Gray Catbird Visits Suet Feeder
I know what you are thinking. Why is she posting Wild Bird Wednesday on Tuesday? Well the Wild Bird Wednesday blog hop is hosted in Australia so if I wait to post on Wednesday the blog hop is at least half over by the time my post goes up. I also have something else I want to do for Wednesday but you will have to wait until then to see what it is.
Okay, now on to the Wild Bird post…
A few years ago Charlie made some simple suet feeders that are called upside down feeders.
We quickly attracted the usual visitors like this Downy Woodpecker.
An upside down suet feeder is great for attracting many tree clinging birds including woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, and titmice. Squirrels and chipmunks can still get to this type of feeder so to discourage them from using it we use a hot pepper formula of suet. The hot pepper deters the mammals from feeding on it, but does not bother the birds.
Most non tree clinging birds can’t hang upside down very easily so it is very difficult for them to use a feeder of this type. This is good to keep some birds such as starlings and crows from the feeder. Our non tree clinging birds are very tenacious and have learned to use the suet feeder despite the difficulty. Here is a little video of a Gray Catbird using our suet feeder.
If you can’t see the video you can go here to view it.
So far the list of birds other than the tree clinging ones to use this feeder include Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, and Song Sparrow. It is always fun to see what unusual things the wild life will do next.
I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Wild Bird Wednesday and will take some time to stop by the blog hop host too.
Those birdies are very crafty. Must be super good grub.
Blessings,
Goose
Is that what’s called “sitting on the catbird seat”?
Birds don’t mind hot pepper BOL, will try that , will be funny seeing Squirrels jumping up and down with their mouths on fire.Bawahhwawwah Don’t worry, we will leave them out some milk.. xx00xx
Mollie and Alfie
Can’t believe the hot pepper doesn’t bother the birds!
XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy
Your suet feeders are a good idea, bet the birds love them.
Congrats on attracting such a good variety of birds.
Lynne x
Chloe just loves to watch the birds!! She could watch them for hours on end! Love the woodpecker! xoxo Chloe and LadyBug
The catbirdie is certainly persistent!
Love ya lots♥
Mitch and Molly
We have never seen an upside down suet feeder. Usually we just hang them from the tree. This seems a bit neater. Happy Tuesday to ya!
super clever. I also like the tip for keeping the squirrels away who end up eating most of the food in the feeders!
Wow, that Charlie sure is a multi-talented guy! Beautiful photo’s and now bird feeders.
The birds are beautiful! We really love watching the Downy Woodpeckers. They are such a pretty bird.
Hugs,
Lily Belle & Muffin
We love your upside down suet feeder! Very clever. Did you buy it that way or is that a Charlie invention?
Hugs
Madi and mom
He’s persistent–just like squirrels! My parents had a lot of birds at the house where they retired. We enjoyed sitting in the yard and watching the birds and squirrels.
We never saw an upside down suet feeder before. We don’t have as many birds here since it is dry and we have less trees but we do get some Northern Flickers in the winter that we feed.
Your pals,
Murphy & Stanley
Ambassadors of Love
Ingenious and the birdies love it.
I have never seen an upside down suet feeder before. What a wonderful feeder for those upside down birds 🙂
Have a great week,
Denise
An English Girl Rambles
Oh, very cool!!! I’ve never seen one of those before!
Great video
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
Great photos and your suet feeder looks like a very good idea.
Love Catbirds!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Cool suet feeder. I might have to try the hot pepper suet.
I like the feeder and the birds. The woodies are one of my favorites. Happy Birding!
I love birds and I love looking at all the birdies and feeders today!
love
tweedles
Great series! Happy WBW!
It may jet be me, but the last image would not load. But the shot of the woodpecker more than made up for it – we have no woodpeckers in Australia and I miss them!
Thanks for the link to WBW.
Cheers – Stewart M – Melbourne
Unexpected entertainment from a very clever bird!
Nice shots. The upside down feeder is a great idea. We have stopped putting suet out because it attracts large groups of Starlings that loudly fight over it and keep other birds away.
Those feeders are so clever! I had no idea birds could tolerate hot pepper!
Birds can get pretty creative where food is involved.
We only see Catbirds during migration here in central Florida. Love your video of the clever bird! Great suet feeder idea.