How to Make Wild Bird Seed Suet Cakes

Making wild bird seed suet cakes is one of the best things you can do to help the wild birds through the winter. It is easy to make and easy is to keep suet available for them.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 cup Crunchy Peanut Butter
• 1 cup Lard or Shortening
• 2 cups Oatmeal
• 2 cups Cornmeal
• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 cup Wheat Germ
• 1/2 cup Hulled Sunflower Seeds (no salt)
• 1/ cup Chopped Dried Cranberries
• Saucepan
• 5 - 6 Plastic Sandwich Containers lined with Foil

1. 
    
   Wild Bird Seed Suet

   Assemble all ingredients, chop the cranberries and line the sandwich containers with foil.
   
   You can use raisins or dried currants, but I find that my local birds like the tartness of the cranberries.

2. 
    
   Wild Bird Seed Suet

   Melt the lard (or shortening) and peanut butter in a medium saucepan.

3. 
    
   Wild Bird Seed Suet

   Add all of the rest of the ingredients to the pan and mix well.

4. 
    
   Wild Bird Seed Suet

   Scoop the mixture into prepared sandwich containers and allow to cool and harden. We set ours outside, if it's cold. Otherwise, putting them in the fridge for about and hour or two helps speed up this process.

5. 
    
   Wild Bird Seed Suet

   Remove from containers, when suet cakes have hardened completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the freezer until ready for use.

Tips & Warnings

• You can vary the ingredients according to your birds' liking.
• Kid's LOVE to help making these!
• Place the suet outdoors, near a window, where you can watch your bird friends enjoy their treat.
• Squirrels enjoy this too. Either make some for them or protect your suet feeder from their raids.

Resources

• Attracting Birds in Winter
• Suet Feeder
• Cornell's Project Feeder Watch - JOIN!

[ceniamari]

on 8/7/2009 Thanks for the recipe. I feed birds in my yard, now I will provide seed suet cakes for them.

[deepthinkin]

on 11/12/2008 With the exception of the lard...I'd eat this!! It looks like a great recipe for the kids to make too. Thanks for sharing.

[CCrock]

on 10/27/2008 Great article! Thanks for sharing, I can't wait to try this!

[iamageniuster]

on 10/27/2008 Very nice article. Some good stuff here.

[dlcass]

on 10/27/2008 Thank you for your kind comments. I used to live in So. Cal too. It really is a whole other world out here in the Northeast. Thanks again for writing : )