Suet feeders begin as wire cages that allow you to place a commercially prepared suet cake into the unit and hang it from a tree branch.  The suet is an important part of your year-round feeding program, giving an alternative food choice to the birds.  Most often you can expect a variety of woodpeckers, nutchatches and chickadees to come in all seasons.  Wrens, titmice and even some warblers also may visit.  The suet is basically a rendered fat that provides extra energy to the birds, especially needed in the winter.  Most suet cakes come with added benefits to the birds; dehydrated insects, fruit, nuts, peanut butter, seed and even some with "hot" capsicum to thwart mammal attempts to consume.

Suet feeders have evolved from that basic cage that was hung from the tree branch.  This basic cage is still available and holds one cake.  These cages now are at times attached to the sides of a hopper feeder.  Some are offered in an "upside-down" feeder to keep away starlings, some suet feeders hold 2 cakes.  The newest designs have "tail braces" which are extensions at the bottom of the feeder to assist woodpeckers while they eat  Woodpeckers have a rigid body and the tail brace gives them an area to push from, allowing them to eat more easily.

One newer design is a "log." Instead of a suet cake, suet plugs are used, pushed into the log to better resemble eating from the tree trunk.