This spring, I watched the suet feeders to see how starlings and grackles would react to the two types of suet. Your email address will not be published. Grackles at outdoor eating areas often wait eagerly until an unwary bird drops some food. (Note: If there are other foods they like offered in feeders they can get into, they will still hang around, but that topic is covered in some of my other posts.). There is another page on Amazon selling a single block, that works out to be much more expensive per block. Get enough of these birds, and it can still be a problem. Your email address will not be published. But food can be harder to find when it is colder. Please Note: My blog includes some Amazon affiliate links. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. In cooler months of the year, try pure suet. I have seen Tufted Titmouses on the pure suet though. Common Grackles eat mostly seeds, particularly agricultural grains such as corn and rice. I didn’t notice any particular preference between pure suet and suet with peanuts. Home » Problems & Solutions » Nuisance Birds » Suet Starlings and Grackles Won’t Eat? Over and over again, I saw that these birds only went for the suet with additions (in this case, peanuts.) Once the grackles and starlings saw the change, they lost interest in the suet feeders completely. I only use these links for products I’ve used myself unless specifically noted otherwise. Striped sunflower seeds are especially difficult for starlings to open. 1) Change seed: Take away cracked corn or food scraps, their favorite foods. Use feeders that keep … This is likely true for other blackbirds and grackles. It appeared to me that Carolina Chickadees, Carolina Wrens and Tufted Titmouses preferred the suet with additions. If they did go to a pure suet feeder, they immediately moved off to a feeder with the additions. They rush forward and try to grab it, often snatching food out of the beak of another bird. As I sit on my back step typing this, I just saw a Grey Catbird come to the suet feeders and leave without taking any. Required fields are marked *. I currently have five suet feeders, three hanging on a pole in the back yard and two on a pole out front. Melting suet can dangerously coat a bird’s feathers. Learn how your comment data is processed. (Note: See my suet problems post to read more about choosing high quality suet, which additions are good ones and which are not.) (Note: See my suet problems post to read more about choosing high quality suet, which additions are good ones and which are not.). Upside-down feeders help tremendously, but these birds will still take turns clinging underneath for short periods. They rush forward and try to grab it, often snatching food out of the beak of another bird. During the winter months, I found that local Downy Woodpeckers and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers were fine with pure suet. Until this past winter, I’ve always used commercial suet blocks that include additions. I’ve heard nuthatches will eat it but haven’t seen that yet. If you can’t find it at your local bird store, this Pure Suet sold on Amazon is the type I’ve been using. So, switch to striped sunflowers in your feeders. I wanted to see which ones liked it and which ones would give it a pass. Well, no. Or use your regular suet in the fall and winter and then try the pure suet when the annoying “blackbird” flocks arrive in the spring. (So they didn’t go hungry.) Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Enter your email address to receive email notifications of new posts. I also touch on bird photography, stories about birds and birding field trips. So is pure suet the final magic cure to getting annoying grackles and starlings off your suet feeder? But when the weather got cold late last fall, I tried swapping out one in the back yard and one in the front with blocks of commercial pure suet. I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, “an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.” If you use an affiliate link on my site to go to Amazon and make a purchase within 24 hours, I earn a small fee which helps offset blog related costs. ), Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeder Review, Erva’s Bluebird Feeder and Dried Mealworms, Fewer Mixed Blackbird Flocks at My Feeders, Want to read more posts about birds? Grackles prefer to eat from the ground at bird feeders, making scattered seed an excellent choice of food for them. So, at least at first, there seem to be quite a few birds who don’t like pure suet. The small fees they provide help cover my site costs. They eat many crops (notably corn) and nearly anything else as well, including garbage. The blog’s focus is on backyard bird watching, especially solutions for problems that come up with feeding backyard birds. It is omnivorous, eating insects, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds, grain, and even small birds and mice. Looking for suet that European Starlings and Common Grackles won’t eat?

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