{"id":910,"date":"2016-06-06T11:09:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T15:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vampstampnews.com\/wpbirdseed\/wordpress\/?p=910"},"modified":"2021-05-29T11:12:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T15:12:38","slug":"birds-choice-roofed-suet-feeder-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdseedandbinoculars.com\/wordpress\/birds-choice-roofed-suet-feeder-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeder Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeder with Erva Baffle<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Birds Choice upside-down suet feeders help keep starlings and grackles from eating all your suet. They won’t prevent every annoying bird, but they do reduce their numbers and usually keep them from completely dominating the suet, giving other birds a chance. I’ve been using Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeders for years and like them very much. But there is a trick to helping birds find suet in upside-down feeders!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>7<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeder Review<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For years I offered suet to birds in the inexpensive metal suet cage feeders you find everywhere. But then one day the local bird store had a bird feeder sale and so I decided to try a different type of suet feeder, a Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeder<\/a>. Note: There is also a larger version that fits two suet cakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Birds Choice Suet Feeder Open to Add Suet<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The upside-down suet feeders looks like a little house but with a wire grid like cage feeders have underneath. This allows access to the suet only from the bottom. To put a regular commercial block of suet in this feeder, lift up the entire roof, sliding it along the hanger cables. Lay the suet inside and then replace the roof by sliding it back down. It’s very easy. Made of recycled materials, this suet feeder is sturdy and should last quite a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hangs from a loop so, depending on where you are hanging it, you may need to get some type of hook or other attachment to hang it<\/a>. My local bird store sells inexpensive little metal hooks for this purpose. I’m thinking that you could probably also use a metal shower curtain S-hook if you happen to have an extra around. (In the top picture, I’ve hung it using a black metal hook on an Erva baffle<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helping Birds Find Upside-Down Suet Feeders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It took birds in my yard some time to find and use this feeder. I tried it several places over a period of weeks without a single peck mark to mar the smooth surface of the commercial suet block I placed inside of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finally realized that to help birds find the suet, I needed to think like a bird and consider what a bird might see when looking at this feeder. From the top and sides it probably looks like a fairly solid people-thing with nothing to really entice them. From these angles, they can’t see the suet inside. So I needed to position it so they could see the suet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking Up at the Bottom of the Suet Feeder<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I temporarily placed this feeder so that it hung above a regular cage suet feeder. That way when the birds were on the feeder below it, they could look up and see the suet. (Note<\/em>: I did not<\/em> hang the regular suet feeder directly from<\/em> the upside-down feeder. The two feeders were hung separately so that birds could easily access both feeders.) This trick worked beautifully and the birds started using the suet feeder. You just need one bird to figure it out; other birds will notice what the first is doing and try it themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the birds got used to it, I was able to put away the old feeder and move the new one to where I wanted it. At first it was hanging from the overhang on my back steps. I could see birds visiting it from my kitchen window. Then I purchased more that I hung from a tree limb by a baffled hook<\/a>. Eventually I moved all my suet feeders to a pole<\/a> to keep squirrels and raccoons out<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds That Use Upside-Down Suet Feeders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once the birds figured this feeder out, it has had a steady stream of customers, including Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmouses, Carolina Wrens, Carolina Chickadees and sometimes Pine Warblers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smooth solid angled roof keeps European Starlings and Common Grackles from settling on the feeder top to dominate it. By watching the woodpeckers, these birds can learn to dangle briefly from the bottom. But they usually can’t hang for long. Starlings in particular can no longer sit on top the feeder and eat comfortably for hours like they can with a traditional suet feeder. They are more likely to stop by periodically for a quick bite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue Jays have learned to dangle briefly too. The jays in my yard only tend to haunt suet feeders in the spring when they have little ones to feed. Other birds like Gray Catbirds and Eastern Bluebirds will sometimes adopt a strategy of sitting underneath the feeder to pick up suet other clinging birds drop while eating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Suet is incredibly popular in the spring. In my yard it is arguably more popular this time of year than the seed in the feeders. Even if you are someone who doesn’t feed birds in warm weather, I do encourage you to at least put out suet in the spring into early summer. You will be rewarded with mom and dad birds visiting repeatedly to bring suet back to their babies. And a little later they will bring their fledglings to the suet directly. And of course woodpeckers and quite a few other birds enjoy suet year round. (Just be sure to use the no-melt type of suet in hot weather.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why I Like The Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeder<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It took me a little while to warm up to the Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeders, but I do like them very much now. This feeder is admittedly more expensive than the typical cage suet feeder. If cage style feeders are working for you, then you may have no reason to switch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I like that this one is easy to fill. And they are already set up to be fairly resistant to starlings, so I don’t have to mess with DIY starling proofing feeder hacks<\/a> with plastic like I had to do with regular cage suet feeders. You could also argue that they are more attractive than the traditional metal cage suet feeder. (Note<\/em><\/strong>: Also see my post on: Strategies to Keep Starlings Off Feeders<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are heavier too, so a squirrel is unlikely to be able to pick the whole thing up or move it to get into it (as I’ve seen larger squirrels do with traditional suet feeders), although I suspect that given time, squirrels might figure out how to lift the roof. (A baffle is a necessity with almost any feeder; which, when hung in the right spot, can keep squirrels off suet<\/a>.)\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also like that the roof of upside-down suet feeders protects suet inside from rain and snow. I lose less to mold in warm rainy weather. Because the suet is hidden inside this feeder, you do need to go out and take a peek underneath every now and then to check if it needs to be refilled. (With traditional cage feeders, you can typically see if they are empty from a distance.) But otherwise, they are very low-maintenance and easy to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I currently have five suet feeders hanging on two poles, one in my front yard and one in the back. Four are these roofed upside-down feeders and one is an Erva Starling-Proof caged suet feeder<\/a>. (Note: The caged suet feeder only allows small birds access to suet. While it completely blocks out starlings and grackles, larger woodpeckers like Red-Bellied or Pileated Woodpeckers are blocked too. For this reason, I use a combination of the two types of suet feeders.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds Choice Suet Feeders Page on Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nancie<\/p>\n\n\n\n