Lately I have been hanging suet cakes for our backyard birds which seem to like them very much, especially those labelled as “hot” by the manufacturer. For Red-bellied Woodpeckers in particular, the hot suet cakes are their favorite. One of them, a male, only spent five seconds at the suet holder but really enjoyed the suet.
Meanwhile, a smaller Dark-eyed Junco got the crumbs.
neihtn 
This definitely caught my attention. Thanks
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Wonderful photos Hien .. ah so birds like spicy food too!
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I have always loved the stylish fealthers of that woodpecker. Yeah birds liking spicy food choices? Interesting and makes me wonder if regular diet items for birds, especially berries, have some taste feature that we don’t know about.
Happy 2023!!
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What a treat to watch the red-bellied woodpecker enjoying the suet, Hien. Those gripping feet are doing their job on the suet cage.
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Great photos, Hien. And I am fascinated by the idea of birds liking something spicy… never would have guess this. Wishing you a great year of the rabbit ahead of us!
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I wouldn’t have guessed that birds would go for something with a bit of bite!
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Great shots, Hien! What is ‘hot’ suet? Does it have cayenne in it?
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Thanks, Eliza! Hot suet has cayenne in it. It also looks reddish or orange.
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I have never tried the Hot suet before, I’ll have to look for it. Enjoyed the Red-bellied shots, it has been a long time since I have seen one.
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I got the spicy suets from Walmart and Ace Hardware.
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lovely!
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Thanks, Robert!
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Great pictures, Hiền! I find it interesting that birds would like hot peppers in their suet. 🙂
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Thank you, Tim. I’ve been seeing these spicy suets for several years now.
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Cám ơn Anh Hiền. Thân chúc Anh Chị và các con cháu một Năm Mới Như Ý.
Đính & Thư
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Cám ơn Anh Đính, và cũng xin chúc Anh Chị một năm mới hạnh phúc!
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What beautiful birds. I woner what makes the cakes “hot”?
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They mix hot pepper with the other ingredients, for example peanut butter, grease.
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Gosh, I would not have thought birds would like pepper but I guess they do!
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The birds love the suet if there if there is any left after the squirrels get to it. Great shots.
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Last year the squirrels took away the suet and the hanger. I am now using a big and hopefully sturdier hanger. 🤞
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Good Luck this year, let me know how it works out.
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That woodpecker is a gorgeous bird! Is the junco as round and plump as he appears in the photo?
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Juncos do have that round shape. When it gets colder, they ball up into feathery balls that are even rounder!
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They look so cute!!
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thank you for the wonderful pictures of the red belly, we have one that has been coming to the feeders here, unusual for this time of year, given we are usually considered a cold winter city. May I have permission to use of your photos, I will credit you of course.
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Thank you for commenting, and you can of course use my photos!
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Thank you. https://dymoonblog.com/2023/01/23/winter-white-2/
Have a good day, Happy Chinese New Year!
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5 seconds is enough to take nice pics.
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Thank you, Anh Nhi!
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