Wild birds tweet by pecking at unsalted fat spread on an outdoor keyboard

Latvian magazine Ir created a Twitter account written by local birds by covering the keys of an outdoor keyboard with unsalted fat, and using the birds' pecking to generate 100 tweets a day to the @hungry_birds account.

///////2```P/PP``2///``2///////////1///////'/11/1//111111111/``//1'1`'111212;``////////////////////11/'1//111///11111//1/1/1/1/1// @irlv
— Hungry Birds (@hungry_birds) March 17, 2012

Everyone has the right to be heard - that is the main principle of Ir, weekly magazine from Latvia. That´s why we have fixed the biggest internet injustice of all times and gave Twitter back to original twitterers, the birds!
What you see here is being streamed live from Sarnate, a small village on the west coast of Latvia.
We put a layer of unsalted fat on a keyboard. Eating the fat helps the birds to survive the harsh winter days and nights when the temperature can drop to 20C below zero.
@hungry_birds are awake from 05.00 until 16.00 GMT, but they have other daily activities and duties besides eating, so be patient and have fun!

Birds on Twitter

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Delightful Creatures • happy mutants • latvia • twitter

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wut?
- DisGuest
  
  ///////2“`P/PP“2///“2///////////1///////’/11/1//111111111/“//1’1`’111212;“////////////////////11/’1//111///11111//1/1/1/1/1//
theophrastvs

thank gawd it’s unsalted! it is unsalted, right?
- http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
  
  I believe it probably is unsalted but I can’t say why I feel that way or why I should.
  
  Salt kills birdehs.
http://twitter.com/shay_guy Shay Guy

P-I-C-K A L-I-T-T-L-E T-A-L-K A L-I-T-T-L-E P-I-C-K A L-I-T-T-L-E T-A-L-K A L-I-T-T-L-E T-W-E-E-T T-W-E-E-T T-W-E-E-T…
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YQZFGD3Q2J3A2KXHUN6N7CVUNU Zippy

they make more sense than the Donald’s tweets
chriscombs

too bad it’s written by humans since March…
http://www.facebook.com/jrrennie Jake Rennie

Why do Latvian birds tweet so much about the American election?
TheOven

I thought birds were vegetarians. Seeds, nuts and all that. What’s with feeding them suet and fat? I worry about their cholesterol.
- http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
  
  Nah, many also eat bugs and shit which have fat and nuts have fat. Suet is fat that has been rendered. Not all species can break it down though it hasn’t shown to be harmful.
  
  Suet is useful too for feeding something besides bluejays if you have bluejays around. They chase off other species, form little gangs and generally run shit around a conventional feeder. Like cute little bird cartels controlling the flow.
  - TheOven
    
    We have crows. Nobody messes with crows.
  - jackbird
    
    Tallow is fat that has been rendered. Suet is the fatty tissue in its unaltered state.
    - http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
      
      With regards to commercially sold suet balls and blocks the fat has been melted simmered, skimmed, shaped then cooled. Rendered, not dehydrated like the packaged suet people cook people food with.
      
      Not to the extent of tallow, but enough that it does not require refrigeration which helps a lot because the birds don’t have a lot of room in their tiny fridges.
      
      If you get suet, a particular fatty tissue, from your butcher then it is not rendered, but birdfeed suet is -always- rendered. It is also now often not 100% suet, other fatty tissue is used but damn near all producers still market it as suet. Buy “Scotts” brand if you want a birdfeed that is or claims to be 100% beef suet.
      - Antinous / Moderator
        
        Hmm. We just took the leftover suet from making the plum pudding, smashed it into the cracks of pine cones and rolled them in seeds.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Quite normal to put out suet balls rolled in seeds for the birds during winter.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet#Bird_feed
http://www.bauartcreative.com/ Bauart

It’s more interesting than anything Justin Bieber ever tweeted.
http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy

QQS1111“““““““`1“`OOOOOMMMGGG
That’s one from March 16th which seems to indicate a particularly tasty wad of fat.
robotnik

I slathered some fat on my keyboard, too… feels kinda good.
beafdog

is “unsalted fat” an autotranslate artifact? because feeding birds suet is a thing. never heard a human refer to it as “unsalted fat”
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Probably to keep concern trolls from screaming, “You’ll kill those birds by feeding them salt pork!!!!”
  - http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
    
    They will scream that, but wild birds can totally take some salt in their diet.
    
    I mix bacon grease with chicken feed, scraps and boiling water on cold mornings. A quarter cup or less divided between 13 free range chickens in what ends up being a half gallon of feed, doesn’t hurt them at all because they scavenge. Good fat and gets rid of bacon grease.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      Geese in public parks and gulls everywhere live on fast food remnants, don’t they?
      - http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
        
        and the packaging too!
jaytkay

How do they remove salt from the fat? Is that difficult?
jocafa

Apparently, even birds like poop jokes: https://twitter.com/hungry_birds/status/180681554555707393