What Is Bird Suet?

If you're a bird lover, then you've probably stocked bird suet in your backyard feeder during the winter. But nowadays, bird suet has many uses beyond winter. During the spring, it can help give nesting birds the increased energy that they need. During the summer, it can be a good substitute for insect-eating birds. 

This will come in handy during the times when insects are hard to find. During the winter, suet can aid wild birds in storing the fat that they will need to migrate or to weather winter. Let's not forget suet's traditional use – it can replace the nutrients and energy that birds have used when they're trying to survive a long and chilly winter.

Bird suet comes from fat – most of the time, rendered animal fat. In today's health-conscious world, fat is often looked down on. But fat is actually important for both birds and humans. Together with carbohydrates and proteins, fat is one of the three sources of calories that can be found in one's diet. 

Calories are what gives us energy. In fact, the calories or energy is concentrated. Compared to proteins or carbohydrates, fat can give birds over twice the caloric energy. This is important for birds because their metabolism is very fast. Therefore, the energy from fat will actually help birds go about their activities for a longer period of time without eating meals.         

Modern suet is also about much more than fat. It can also contain fruits, seeds and insects. For those who want to put suet in their bird feeders during the summer, there are now melt-resisting types of suet. There is also suet that uses vegetable fat instead of animal fat. 

The more varied a suet's ingredients are, the more it will appeal to a wide range of birds. Buying varied suet will also give birds a bigger dietary benefit than plain suet. There are many forms of suet – cakes, balls, or logs. 

Make sure to put suet feeders at a height of five feet from the ground. Position it close to a tree trunk. This is because a lot of birds that like suet are cling feeders, meaning that they hang to tree trunks in order to look for insects.