birdsoup

My store stocks 14 different varieties (flavors) of suet. That qualifies me as the Baskin-Robbins of suet. And like selecting ice cream, it is sometimes difficult to choose which flavor of suet to buy. Too many choices can be overwhelming. Customers want advice and often ask “which suet is best?”

That is when I tell them the store of Dr Geiis’ mother: Dr. Al Geiis, a former director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, conducted the seminal studies on bird seed preference back in the 1990s. He spent several years putting out measured amounts of different bird seed to determine which were preferred by birds. His work is still the classic in the industry. At one time his mother was bed ridden. So outside her bedroom window Geiis hung 5 suet feeders with 5 different flavors of suet. Her job was to record which birds came to which flavor of suet.

I like that story. Instead of just laying in bed feeling sorry for herself, Mrs Geiis had something to do. And watch birds is therapeutic. Moreover she was helping her son. He got free research. The results of her study? In her backyard, which was in Maryland, orange-flavored suet attracted the greatest variety of birds. And the birds that came to the peanut suet were the most frequent visitors. Some customers in Westchester report that orange suet is also very attractive here. But others say that orange is no more popular than any other flavor.

In actual fact, birds do not have taste buds. And they don’t have a good sense of smell. So I can’t figure out why they would prefer one flavor to another.