Picture this: A chickadee lands on your carefully crafted pinecone feeder,
coated with peanut butter or suet and seeds. You’re feeling good about helping local wildlife. But wait! As your neighborhood bird rehabilitator, let me share a secret that could save birds’ lives — and it’s all about the hidden dangers of fats.
You know the beautiful feathers adorning our flighted friends? Well, they’re not just pretty — they are an engineering masterpiece that would make NASA jealous. Feathers are crucial for survival, with a structural design that’s both intricate and purposeful. Imagine thousands of tiny zippers (barbs) that lock together to create a shield so perfect it makes water roll off a bird’s back.
On frigid days, birds’ down become heat traps, locking in warm air and keeping birds toasty. In summer, feathers provide crucial insulation against heat. It’s nature’s version of an all-weather survival suit, and birds depend on it entirely.
Here’s the catch: When fats or other contaminants get on feathers, they gum up those tiny barbs, creating holes in birds’ insulation. Like a tear in a wetsuit, the bird loses body heat rapidly once water reaches the skin. For birds, greasy feathers are a deadly liability.
How does this happen? Picture a bird landing on that shortening-, suet- or peanut butter-covered pinecone. As he hops around feeding, his feet or body feathers pick up tiny amounts of fat. Later, while preening (with feet or bill), he spreads that fat into his feathers. Once this happens, the bird can’t fix it — bird saliva can’t remove oils any more than we can wash oil off our hands without soap.
The consequences? Imagine trying to stay warm wearing a wet jacket in freezing weather. Compromised birds spend hours and days desperately trying to clean themselves, taking critical time away from feeding, making them weaker by the day. Seeing these birds is a rarity; struggling birds stay hidden.
But don’t panic! Here’s your action plan:
1. Use proper feeders: Avoid exposed suet balls and fat-slathered cones. Never spread fats on trees. Use cage-style suet feeders that don’t allow birds to stand directly on the food. Squirrel-proof feeders are super feather savers.
2. Location matters: Don’t feed birds in the forest. Place feeders in the shade, away from windows.
3. Choose the right fats: Pure peanut butter (pour off oil) or true suet (hard fat from a cow’s groin) are the best fats as they do not soften or spread easily. True suet is dry and crumbly. Gelatin also works.
4. Avoid super greasy and soft fats: Fat trimmings and vegetable oils spread easily and get soft on even a mildly warm day. Bacon grease also has chemicals.
5. Keep it clean: Regularly clean feeders with hot, soapy water; replace suet weekly in winter.
6. Give it a rest regularly: Birds obsessed with suet can choose it over more nutritious options.
7. Avoid spring and summer suet feeding: Babies need high protein; parents must feed babies insects or wild seeds and foods. Our suet is not a nutritional match for nature’s powerhouse of foods.
To test if your suet is bird-safe, give it a feel. If it’s soft or squishy, it’s too risky. Does just touching it make your hand greasy? Hard, dry and crumbly is the goal. You’re looking for something more like a crumbly shortbread cookie than a soft stick of butter.
Suet feeding is relatively new on the scene of mass-produced bird foods. Sadly, we lack the science for some of our food options. For example, suet “doughs” are a no-melt, no-spread option but come at the price of being nutritionally deficient. They have caused gout in cases of overfeeding. Some add chicken starters, but this is a high-fiber food meant for birds with powerful gizzards, not the tiny, weak gizzards of songbirds.
Quick digesting-, calorie- and nutrition-packed food is what our birds need. Notably, the sunflower seed is 49% fat and 22% protein, better than any suet made. Wreaths made with gelatin and de-hulled sunflower seeds are bird safe and a fun craft project. Find recipes at nativebirdcare.org.
In taking these small steps to protect our birds, we become more than just observers — we become their allies in survival, ensuring they continue to grace our yards and habitats.
—Elise Wolf directs Native Bird Care Avian Rescue. Find bird-safe recipes, kids crafts and feeder options at nativebirdcare.org
This article appears in Source Weekly December 26, 2024.
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