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Wed 16 Nov, 2005 09:35 am
Hi everyone!
I'm a little disturbed, given reports of Avian Flu worldwide, to notice a definite lack of our usual backyard birds.
We've lived here for 7 years, and have had an ever-increasing flock of Cardinals every year. They stay all year long, and we've had more every year, until this year.
Usually we fill the feeder twice a day... in the past month, we only fill it once a day or two days. Last year, we counted thirteen Cardinals at the feeder at one time. I saw two yesterday, which is the most I've seen in a month.
We also used to frequently see Titmice and Chickadees, more this time of year than in the summer, but this year I haven't even seen one. Also no Woodpeckers, which are common here (Florida). Nothing but squirrels at our feeder this year!
Has anyone else noticed fewer birds at their feeders this year?
<Gus continues to eat his cardinal breakfast while waiting for answers>
Nope. Tons of birds here, and I am just looking at
a little hummingbird.
Cardinal breakfast?
lotta dark meat on a cardinal.
It's not avian flu from what my birder friend tells me. More likely a shift in migration due to all the weird (very warm) weather plus the hurricanes.
I don't think we have any avian flu in this hemisphere, yet. So, our migratory birds (most of them) should be unaffected. Right? There seems to be a lot of changing bird populations these days, but the way I've seen it, it's been for the better. Bald eagles are back in MA (and many other states), bluebirds are here again and oriels. We had a long drought of blue jays for years, but they've come back in abundance. A while back there was some major concern over redwing blackbirds because a couple of major breeding grounds were polluted or detroyed. I don't know their habitats well enough to say if their numbers have gone up or down.....
We still, by the way, have our cardinals.
A bird
You're probably more familiar with Dodos, eh gustav?
Excuse me, orial. That just looks wrong, spelled that way.
Jane, are you on a crusade?
Touchè!
Nah, I'm just playing with you, gustav.
Phew! I was worried sick.
Stick with me, grasshopper.
Like Green Witch, I'm thinking it's the weather patterns.
we've lived for 49 years in the same house in the burbs and have noticed a change in the bird population every few years. had no cardinals until we lived here for pwrhaps ten years, disappeared again and have now come back. the last few years - after having more red flowers - we've had hummingbirds stop over. plenty of chikadees every winter and fall, but woodpeckers getting a little scarce. i believe the birds go where the food is - we do not have any birdfeeders and don't throw out any birdfood , yet we seem to have as many birds as neighbours with birdfeeders (we have some rather large trees that the birds and squirrels enjoy). hbg
Just noticed your tag line, hamburger. I used to love John Mortimer, but he's not on many shelves around here.
roger : there is usually one of his books sitting on my night table. i enjoy reading some of his little stories at bedtime - always get a chuckle out of it. hbg
I've never seen an oriole...
that I know of.
Saw robins in my youth and then not again
until I got here in north north and they landed
en masse in the cotoneaster tree across the
street, thus in time bringing baby cotoneasters
to my yard for weed review.
Finches...
anyone else like finches?
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