Maybe because I'm on an upper floor, I haven't had a Starling problem until
this year. Not sure why they've suddenly appeared. I've solved most of it by
using a cage-type feeder; the Downies can get inside and the Catbirds can
reach it if they try, but the Starlings are pretty much thwarted. Problem is
the Hairy WP can't get it, nor can the Flicker, who started coming around
when I put some on a low platform feeder. I just hung a feeder that has the
suet on the bottom, so the bird has to hang upside-down to feed. Hopefully
that will satisfy the Hairy and thwart the Starlings. The Flicker will just
have to eat ants, I guess.

The other "meat" they all will die for is dried grubs, but I only
hand-dispense it, i.e. so far only my trained Catbird, but I've had a
Titmouse and Wren get pretty close. Too expensive to just sprinkle around.

--------------------------------------------
Fred Pierce (DNRC) Clary's Forest, Columbia

-------------------------------------------


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Monroe Harden
> Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 9:37 AM
> To: 
> Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] question for the experts
>
>
> We kept the suet out because the pair of downy woodpeckers that
> live nearby keep coming every day, and we wanted to keep them
> around.  We don't get many grackles, for some reason, but the
> other birds have found it to be quite appealing.  They do eat
> through a whole cake in a day or so.
>
> Monroe
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Norm Saunders <>
> >Sent: May 26, 2006 9:31 AM
> >To: 
> >Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] question for the experts
> >
> >That's an interesting observation, Monroe.  We tend to stop
> putting suet out this time of year because all it attracts are
> starlings and grackles--they can finish off a whole suet cake in
> half a day...sigh.
> >
> >One wonders--is suet a substitute for the nourishment catbirds
> are getting from insects?
> >
> >Norm Saunders
> >
> >-------------- Original message from Monroe Harden :
> >
> >> We have 2-3 catbirds hanging around our feeders at home, and
> they seem to
> >> concentrate on the suet cake. That suet is quite popular these
> days- we've had
> >> robins, catbirds, mockingbirds, adult and fledgling starlings, downy
> >> woodpeckers, and a lone chickadee eating there within minutes
> of each other. We
> >> have plenty of seed around, in the feeders and on the ground,
> but the birds seem
> >> to like the suet the most.
> >