Evening star., 1944-11-23
This and That
By Charles Z. TraceueI.
BETHESDA.

BETHESDA.
Dear Sir:
Recently downy woodpecker has
been very faithful at a suet holder
which I put on tree. This is the
simplest feeding station but many do
not seem to know about 1t, so I am
writing you this note in the hope that
1t will call their attention to 1t.
"A suet holder is usually just a sort
OF wire soap dish with little door to
open to put the suet in. Any sort of
suet will do, and surely 1t will not be
begrudged the birds
Besides the woodpeckers, other birds
which like suet are chickadees and
starlings, and occasionally other species,
1 forget which ones.
There is one thing I would like to
say. l have seen reports that in winter
the eyes of birds are likely to freeze to
the metal wires of this sort of feeding
station. I have been using one for
years, and I have never seen such a
thing happen. I do not believe it can
happen.
VERY truly yours, E. S. c."
Birds which eat suet, at least now and
then, are chickadees, downy woodpeckers,
hairy woodpeckers, fiickers, white
breasted nuthatches, tufted titmice.
brown creepers, golden crowned kinglets
and the blue jays.
Even the song sparrow will visit such
a feeding station now and then.
One filling of such a feeder as our
correspondent suggests will last a long
time. Fortunately suet does not turn bad
in cold weather
This fat is not only very filling. but
contains many heat units, which are
exactly what the birds need in the cold.
With seeds and grains, If no more
than ordinary chicken scratch feed, the
birds will do nicely, despite the cold, If
they can get taste of suet upon
occasion.
While it is true that authentic reports
OF birds injured by cold metal in winter
have come in, there is little doubt that
1t does not happen often, and certainly
not enough to keep any one from using
wire feeding device for suet. The idea
is to keep the food from crumblinp all
over the ground.
A point about the establishment of a
suet feeding device is this:
Be sure that it is high enough SO
that the dogs will not get it. With their
powers OF scent, they are able to sniff
the suet the moment they ramble into
a yard, and will tear the wire down in
trying to get at the food Cats do not
like fats, as rule, and are not intrigued.
1t is a good idea to grind some suet
and place light sprinkling of it in the
ordinary mixture of grains and seeds
used in the larger bird feeding stations.
Another good idea for the use of suet
Is In cakes. These are made by melting
the suet down and pouring it into nolds.
mixing IN while warm such bird tidbits
as sunf1ower seeds, raisins, nutmeats, etc.
A device on the market has proved
very attractive to purchasers and chick
aoees alike. 1t is piece of tree branch,
with holes bored at intervals and these
flled with such suet mixture.
When the stick is hung up, the birds
flock to it, and cling to it. while dipping
into the food along its length.
The downy woodpecker is the smallest
OF our woodpeckers, and favorite of
every one. He is about 61z inches long.
and has red patch on the back of his
head. (His mate has no red.) The
upper parts are black and white, and
the underparts white.
The downy, as he is Familiarity called.
is bird of the open woodlands, and
comes readily to suburban areas where
there are plenty of trees. It lays it's
eggs, usually four to six, in dead tree.
If it can find one. That is why he
seldom nests in the built-up sections.
Newcomers to bird lore expect to be
able to see something downy about the
feathers of this woodpecker, just as they
expect to see something particularly
hairy about the hairy woodpecker. If
so, they will be disappointed, because
neither characteristic is enough so to be
noticed at even q short distance. Their
feathers are Just plain feathers.