Perhaps I can suggest a way to keep the Brown Creeper coming. At my previous residence, I fed suet from a container nailed to a (Hackberry) tree trunk. Woodpeckers, Titmice, Chickadees, Nuthatches and Starlings would all hack at the suet, in the process flaking off little bits of suet, many of which would land on the tree bark. Then the creeper would come along and glean them from the tree trunk. There was enough action at the suet to keep him coming all winter.

Creepers do not have strong bills, capable of hacking pieces of suet off a block of it as do woodpeckers, chickadees, etc. Rather, their smalled, curved bills are adapted to glean insects and insect larvae from tree bark. There were probably enough tiny pieces around the feeder for your creeper to find something he could handle, but you cannot count on it staying that way. Also, creepers probably avoid the rough and tumble of competition around a feeder unless, as happened today, the need for food was made desperate by a storm. The closer you can get small bits of suet to the tree bark where he normally finds food, the more likely you will make it for your creeper to stick around.

To go further, why not shave some thin flakes off a block of suet and put them on some tree bark? I have not tried that idea myself, but I did hold a Brown Thrasher in my yard through one winter by grinding suet into worm-like strands in a meat grinder and placing them in the leaves where the thrasher did his thrashing.

Bob Fisher
Independence, MO
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----- Original Message -----

From: "Debra Nichols" <[log in to unmask]>

To: <[log in to unmask]>

Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 8:06 PM

Subject: Brown Creeper at suet

> With the snow in north Missouri (Hannibal), the birds arrived in droves. At
> daybreak I had 30+ Cardinals on the second-story deck. What I had NEVER
> seen before was that a Brown Creeper came to the suet feeder. It hangs right
> against the trunk (it is the tree he likes to frequent). So, it wasn't too
> surprising he found it. But then I saw him on the deck picking at sunflowers.
> Amazing! What a great day to be snowed in!
>
> Debbie Nichols
> Hannibal, MO
> Marion County
>
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> The Audubon Society of Missouri's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
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The Audubon Society of Missouri's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
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