Keep This Common Ingredient Away From The Birds In Your Yard

Social media can be the best place to view animal content featuring hundreds of furry and feathered friends. After all, the internet seems like it's made for cat and dog pictures. Facebook and Instagram are valuable for seeing animals up for adoption in your area or letting others know about the house plants you should never grow in a home with pets. You might even see a few tips on how to aid your local wildlife, such as ways to help birds during the migration season.

One post you might see making the rounds online suggests that you feed wild birds using leftover kitchen fat and grease mixed with rolled oats. These posts often state that this is a suitable way to use leftovers after you cook. In theory, it sounds like a great idea. Offering birds high-energy fat during the cold winter months can be beneficial, and putting fat or grease down your pipes can lead to a blockage, so why not feed the birds with it? Truth is, this advice is for the birds; you never do this because kitchen fats and grease can damage their feathers' waterproof properties and can only be removed with soap. 

Animal experts debunk this hack every time it pops up, but nonetheless, it seems to make the rounds on social media every winter. It's admirable that well-intentioned people want to help the birds, yet this approach only does the opposite. When grease gets on birds' feathers, it strips the waterproofing which can make the birds' feathers dirty, wet, and cold, increasing the risk of hypothermia. Many people believe that feeding them kitchen fat is the same as suet, but this, too, is incorrect. There's a distinct difference between the two types of fat, and experts caution that bird lovers should only feed suet.

Birds can have trouble finding enough food sources in the winter, but suet can help sustain them when food is scarce. Suet can keep birds at the feeder longer and is a high-energy ingredient that backyard birds can enjoy throughout the year, but especially during the colder months when insects and other foods are scarce. Often sold in little cakes mixed in with seeds, it appears similar to the fat collected in your pans at first glance. Suet, however, consists of fat sourced from the kidneys and loin area of cows or sheep. 

It often undergoes rendering, a process where it's melted down to separate the fat from the water contents. This gives it a higher melting point that keeps it solid and prevents it from soaking birds' feathers. The result is a tasty (and safe) treat for birds that's often mixed with fruits, nuts, and dried insects. For healthy, happy birds, you must feed them suet correctly, and not merely opt for a ball of kitchen grease. You can purchase suet cakes to feed birds at pet shops or online, or you can make your own vegetarian version using shortening and nut butter by following recipes from your local Audubon chapter or other trusted sources.

Specialized feeders, such as the Kingsyard Recycled Plastic Suet Bird Feeder available on Amazon, will let birds safely eat without smearing any fat on their feathers. Birds such as chickadees, wrens, and woodpeckers will flock to your feeders, so experts advise you to hang more than one feeder if possible. So, bottom line: Keep the grease and fat in a jar for use in future recipes or dispose of it safely, away from both your plumbing system and the birds in your backyard.