Looking for a last-minute Christmas gift or school break activity that benefits wildlife?

Consider making some holiday-themed bird suet. It is an easy, cheap, and fun way to attract birds to your yard this winter. 

Birds frequent feeders throughout the year, but visit them more during the winter months when other food resources are scarce. Providing suet for birds can be a great way to attract them to your property, help them find resources during hard times, and even help restore native plant communities.

Birds are very important seed dispersers and we can use them to our advantage as we try to restore our landscape with native plants to further benefit wildlife. Adding native berries (like hollies, viburnums, and chokeberries) to the suet mix will allow these birds to spread the seeds throughout the landscape.

If you are interested in attracting birds to your yard this holiday season, this is what you will need to make some holiday suet.

Ingredients you will need

1 cup lard
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 cups bird seed

Optional additions:
Peanuts, oats, native berries (e.g. American holly, winterberry, inkberry, chokeberry)

Cookie cutters or molds

Directions

• Melt lard and peanut butter on low heat

• Mix in dry ingredients (flour, corn meal, seeds)

• Pour into holiday cookie cutters or other molds

• Add biodegradable string to hang suet and other optional ingredients (e.g. berries)

• Freeze until hard, then gentle remove the form from its mold

Last step: Hang outside and let the birds enjoy!

We hope you have a great holiday season and you get the chance to appreciate some feathered friends. If you make them, please share your photos, of the project itself and they feathered friends your creations attract.