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Suet preferences of certain birds



Hi C-birders,

A random observation from the feeders recently: For a while, I kept the 
suet feeder stocked with raisin or fruit-n-nut flavored suet cakes, and 
was getting frequent visits from Grey Catbirds. When I returned from my 
recent drive to Michigan and back, the last of that was gone, so I 
replaced it with peanut butter flavored suet. Very soon thereafter, I saw 
my first Brown Thrasher for the yard (species #28 since June); it was a 
regular customer over the following week or so until that suet, too, ran 
out. During that time, I did not see a single Catbird. I replaced that 
with my only remaining suet cake (hot pepper) yesterday, and have seen 
neither species at the feeder in the short time since.

So my question, for those of you who have suet feeders: Do Grey Catbirds 
and Brown Thrashers show preferences at your feeders for suet with fruit 
and peanut butter respectively? Or is it just a coincidence, perhaps that 
the catbirds stopped visiting while I was away and the feeder emptied, 
and the thrasher just happened to wander into my neighborhood when I 
first used the peanut butter? And has anyone noticed other patterns of 
preference for different flavored varieties of suet, or will just plain 
raw suet from the butcher attract all the same species that the 
elaborately flavored commercial suet cakes will?

Thanks,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Zoology

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/