I love wild birds which is why we’ve had a bird feeder well before it was “legal” to do so (association rules). The weekend before last I added a second feeder that has suet since it claimed to attract woodpeckers. Much to my excitement, within days we had a cute little downy woodpecker visiting daily to get his fix.
Menards had suet, bird seed, and feeders on sale this past weekend so we bought 12 blocks of suet since they were only $0.75/ea (most sell for about $2.50 although the brand in question is typically $1). One block seems to last a week so that’s $4 monthly to feed the woodpecker, who, by the way, patiently waited in a nearby tree yesterday morning as we replenished his food (as soon as we went inside he went straight for it). We also returned a bag of unopened bird seed we had purchased a week ago since the stuff on sale was twice as much for only $1.50 more.
In addition, we got a hummingbird feeder for only $5. I plan to make my own nectar since I read that the dye in the commercial food isn’t good for their little bodies.
I recently started thinking about attracting hummingbirds since I’ve yet to see one around here but my research tells me they spend April-September in the area. I sure hope the feeder draws them in!