Bird Treat Recipes

Basic Bird Treat Muffins
One part peanut butter, one part meted beef suet, six parts cornmeal.
Blend peanut butter and cornmeal into melted suet. Spoon into paper lined muffin tins and cool. When hardened, cakes may be removed form the tins and stored frozen until needed.

Bird Treat Cupcakes
1lb. suet in small pieces
1 c. yellow cornmeal
1 c. chunky peanut butter
1 c. mixed wild bird seed
1 c. rolled oats
1 c. sunflower seed
Melt suet over low flame until liquid. Remove any remaining solid pieces. Stir other ingredients into fat until blended. Pour into paper cupcake cups in muffin pans. Chill until hardened; remove paper and put into wire suet basket.

These suet-based cakes can be placed in wire suet cages or crumbled and served on platform or tray feeders.

Pine Cone Bird Feeders
Open pinecones stuffed with chunky peanut butter make attractive ornaments to hang in trees around the yard.
Melted suet or suet blends can also be poured into pinecones and left to cool. Add a piece of wire at the top to make hanging them easy.

Many birds are attracted to suet mixes and peanuts; including woodpeckers, chickadees, titmice, wrens and blue jays.

Decorate a Bird Christmas Tree
Remembering to honor the birds at Christmas is a tradition dating back to 16th century Europe. Hang premade decorative birdseed bells or other shapes. Or, make your own decorations. String peanuts, stale bread, popcorn, pieces of fruit, cranberries and raisins on heavy thread and hang like a garland. Also, hang pinecones stuffed with suet or peanut butter.

Summer Fruit Cups
Fill a grapefruit rind with small pieces of orange and apple. Also add berries, raisins, dates, figs or prunes. Place the rinds near cover, if possible, to give the birds a feeling of safety as they feed.
Orioles, catbirds, wrens, some warblers, thrashers and blue birds are some of the birds attracted to fruit feeders.