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Wednesday March 10, 2010
ORDER NOW!
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We have the best !
$61.80 for 20 packages
free shipping - best value
Only $3.09/pkg., shipped!
"...I love the feeder.
It's a handsome feeder and the results have been excellent."
[]
-W.B., New Jersey
"I love my feeder;
woodpeckers do as well!
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M.S., Iowa
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 This
page documents the long, five year woodpecker feeder journey
that has led to the marvelous product available here at
Woodpecker-Feeder.com.
As you can see below, we have been through a variety of feeders
and suet options. Please enjoy our woodpecker feeder saga
which is about to unfold...
 The
first suet
woodpecker feeder we tried was a simple cage design.
Actually, this feeder is not meant to just feed woodpeckers, but
that was our intent - we were naive. Initially, we used the wrong types of
suet and woodpeckers were not interested in it at all.
Over time, we found a good suet choice for woodpeckers, but
starlings came and ate all the suet out the feeder in a matter
of hours.
 Next,
we advanced to what we call the "upside down" suet feeder.
This had slightly better results, but the starlings were able to
launch themselves up from the ground and poke the openings until
chunks of suet fell to the ground for all to devour. We
even had one "super starling" who was able to hang on with one
claw and peck at the suet for long periods of time. Not a
good thing at all.
 We
came across this innovative kind of "suet sandwich" feeder.
This feeder system consists of specially formed suet that fits
between two hard, wood-looking pieces of material. The
starlings were able to sit on top of this feeder and chip away
at the suet until it fell out. We tried only putting
half-sizes of the suet into the feeder, but the starlings were
still able to fly into the sides of the feeder and dislodge
large chunks of suet, knocking it to the ground for all the
other starlings to share. The suet would also become
rancid quite quickly, requiring replacement before it could be
used up.
 After
a few years of frustration, we discovered what we thought would
be the solution. This is basically a "refurbished" wooden
log that is designed to hold suet "tubes," so we call it a
tube suet woodpecker feeder. We also found some
absolutely excellent suet for woodpeckers! You simply
slide the suet tubes into the holes and compress the ends of the
suet tube with your open palms to cause the suet to fill the
hole completely.
The suet log approach is a good thought,
since only vertical-clinging birds, such as woodpeckers, can
hang on to the feeder. Unfortunately, we soon discovered
that the "super smart starling" could hang on to the open hole with
one claw, stick his head into the nearly 1 1/2 inch diameter
holes, and eat large quantities of suet from this feeder.
The starling would eventually knock the rest of the suet down to
the ground for the rest of the flock to consume. To make
matters worse, the starling's activities served to keep the
woodpeckers away from the feeder much of the time.
Here is a similar wooden log woodpecker feeder design that
actually includes grooves to make it even easier for starlings
to sit on the feeder, cleaning all of the suet out before your
woodpeckers get a chance to eat any at all. This design is
more about selling lots of suet than it is feeding woodpeckers.
It was
our frustration with starlings and the lack of an ideal suet
woodpecker feeder design that led to our developing a design of our own.
We went through a few iterations of our design that resulted in
our original model that you can buy here at Woodpecker-Feeder.com. The first
designs involved drilling smaller holes and spacing them a specific
distance from the top, bottom, and from the other holes.
This kept starlings from wiping the suet out so quickly and
removed a landing surface for all but the "1 in 100" smartest
starlings who could hang on with one claw and stretch their body
down the side of the woodpecker feeder to get the suet.
Through much trial and error, we came up with our own
unique design that allows woodpeckers and other clinging birds
to easily feed at the feeder. All the starlings can do is
flutter in front of the feeder and make stabs at the suet.
It takes starlings a long time to get suet from our woodpecker
feeder and as they get deeper into the hole, only woodpeckers
can feed from it. Check out
our unique designs.
Our latest version goes back to include drilling larger holes, but angling the
wood to make it impossible for starlings to land on it.
We have improved our design such that woodpeckers can "learn the
feeder" and learn, they do! Starlings can "flutter and
peck," but they can not hang on to the feeder, wiping the suet
out in moments.
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