Peanut Butter Pear Bird Suet Cakes
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We love to feed the birds, especially in winter, and I love making these peanut butter pear bird suet cakes with my daycare kids. It’s a great nature activity for kids.
What a fun and unique way to feed the birds!
Bird seed cakes
The bird feeder gets drained quickly so I love to put out bird suet cakes too. It’s so simple even kids can make them. Consider the natural diet of birds and supply what fits. I avoid things like Crisco and gelatin for this reason. But lard will melt when heated and stay hard when cold, so it’s perfect to hold the cakes together in winter. And coconut oil works like this too.
As soon as we put it out, the birds show up. The peanut butter is so alluring that birds don’t fight like they do over just seeds. Good food can do that to you.
Be sure to use pure peanut butter (100% peanuts) with no other ingredients. Some additives and sweeteners could be harmful to wildlife. If you choose to use lard, temperatures must be below 40F to avoid spoiling while it sits outside. This is a winter food and not necessary at other times of the year when natural food sources like insects are available. So it’s perfect.
We suspend our suet cage from a tree branch to hang it. We just keep refilling our store-bought cages, but I’m sure you could make your own.
Making a suet cake is a great way to support wildlife. Food is more scarce and harder to get in winter. I don’t feed my birds in warm weather because I have a big raccoon population and they just rip my feeders apart. This suet cake disappears in about a day here because the birds just love it!
I love how easy this is to make which makes it perfect for kids to help with or even do entirely on their own if the child is older. This is a great winter activity for kids which teaches them compassion and empathy. It’s also a great boredom buster!
How to make suet cakes for birds
Peanut Butter Pear Bird Suet Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 pound lard
- 1 pound bird seed
- 2 cups peanut butter crunchy
- 1 can of pears
Instructions
- Prepare a large casserole dish by covering it with parchment paper. You might want to overlap 2 large pieces to cover completely and contain the liquid for easy clean up.
- Pour half of the bird seed into the casserole dish.
- In a saucepan melt the lard, peanut butter and pears together over medium heat.
- As the peanut butter and lard begin to liquify, smash the pears with a spoon.
- When the mixture is completely melted pour it over the bird seed.
- Sprinkle remaining bird seed over the mixture.
- Place in the freezer if possible, or in the fridge.
- Allow the mixture to harden and then lift the parchment paper out of the casserole dish.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the suet down into cakes that will fit your suet feeder.
- Store in the freezer in a ziploc bag until ready to feed.
For more nature activities for kids, check these out:
- Nature activity ideas for kids
- Insect lifecycle playdough mats
- Ladybug facts for kids
- Rollie polly facts for kids
- Praying mantis facts for kids
- Bee life cycle lap book
- Butterfly life cycle lap book
- Plant life cycle lap book
- Seed and plant theme for preschool
- Caterpillar and butterfly theme for preschool
- How to start a preschool garden
I cannot wait to have my kids help with this around the holidays. Its going to be so fun!
Thanks for checking it out!