Woodpeckers (Backyard Bird Feeding Guides)

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About Woodpeckers

Product Description Your Backyard Feeding Guide to Woodpeckers The splash of red on black and white―few backyard guests are more exciting to behold than the Downy Woodpecker. And what can capture a bird watcher’s attention like a woodpecker drumming against a tree? Learn from acclaimed naturalist Stan Tekiela what seeds and foods to provide to keep woodpeckers coming back and which feeders they prefer and why. Find out how to make your yard into a habitat they will visit, and enjoy woodpecker photographs, trivia and quick tips. This handy book is your all-in-one guide to attracting and feeding woodpeckers. About the Author Naturalist, wildlife photographer and writer Stan Tekiela is the author of more than 165 field guides, nature books, children’s books, wildlife audio CDs, puzzles and playing cards, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers and cacti in the United States. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural History from the University of Minnesota and as an active professional naturalist for more than 25 years, Stan studies and photographs wildlife throughout the United States and Canada. He has received various national and regional awards for his books and photographs. Also a well-known columnist and radio personality, his syndicated column appears in more than 25 newspapers and his wildlife programs are broadcast on a number of Midwest radio stations. Stan can be followed on Facebook and Twitter. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Feeding Woodpeckers Attracting woodpeckers is fairly easy when you offer choice foods at feeding stations. Suet and peanuts are the two best foods to get them to visit your yard. Suet is fat rendered mainly from the kidneys and loins of cattle and sheep. Oftentimes suet is combined with bits of other food items and formed into solid cakes, which can be offered in wire or mesh cages. Suet cages allow the birds to reach the food with their bills, but they can’t take the entire cake. Another great way to appeal to woodpeckers is to drill good-sized holes into a log and stuff them with round suet plugs. Suet is also sold raw at your local butcher shop or meat market and usually comes in an onion or mesh bag. Simply hang this from a shepherd’s hook and let the birds have at it. During deer hunting season or after a cow slaughter, put out a rib cage in your backyard to draw in more woodpeckers. Suet is a real fat product that melts, drips and spoils in warm temperatures, so most people offer it just in winter. However, there are no-melt suet cakes that will withstand warmer weather. They contain more plant material but still provide the nutrition that woodpeckers need. Many no-melt varieties come with seeds, fruit and insects embedded and are a great way to feed woodpeckers all year long. Another surefire way to get woodpeckers to come to your feeding station is to offer peanuts. You can put out peanuts in any season and enjoy woodpeckers in your yard year-round. Peanuts can be offered in different ways, and each one is as good as the next. Whole peanuts in the shell can be encased in wire mesh feeders. These openings are large enough for the birds to pull out one shell with peanuts at a time. Peanuts out of the shell are known across the bird feeding industry as peanut hearts, pieces or pick-outs. Feeders for pick-outs have smaller openings that allow woodpeckers to extract just one shelled nut at a time. Offering peanut hearts is one of the best ways to feed woodpeckers. All woodpecker species in your area will come to these feeders and enjoy the treat. In addition to peanuts, many woodpecker species also love peanut butter. It’s high in protein and oil but can be messy for both you and the birds, even in specialized feeders. Consider spreading small amounts on tree bark or suet cakes. Standard seed feeders attract woodpeckers as well as other birds. Black oil sunflower seed is the best kind of birdseed to offer.