My suet feeder was upside down for two years and I never noticed

I've been putting suet cakes in this wire feeder since I moved to Columbus back in 2021. Last weekend my neighbor who's a retired park ranger stopped by while I was refilling it and asked why I had the feeder reversed, the little perching lip should face down so the birds can grip it. I looked at the thing and honestly felt dumb, flipped it over and within ten minutes a downy woodpecker landed on it and stayed for a full five minutes. Turns out the starlings had been hogging it because the flat side was easier for them to stand on. Anyone else make a simple setup mistake that took a birdwatcher to point out? How long did you go before you caught it?

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anthony42427d ago

Little details like that are everything with feeders. I had my oriole feeder wrong for a whole season once, the jelly cups were facing the fence instead of the yard so the birds had to hover awkwardly to get at it. Took my buddy who does the Christmas bird count to point it out. Also check the drainage holes on suet feeders, if they clog the cake goes rancid faster and the birds will stop touching it. The woodpeckers are pickier than people think, once they find a spot they like they'll hit it all day. You probably got a loyal customer now that it's flipped right.