Whatbird.com

For the past few years I have had Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Titmice and lots of Cardinals.  This year is very strange.  Since the beginning of spring the Chickadees, Woodpeckers, Nuthaches, and Titmice have left.  I have hiked around for several miles around my area trying to see or hear the little buggers but haven't been lucky.  The only birds I have this year are Blue Jays, Gray Catbirds, Goldfinches and Wrens and the usual hangers-on like House Finches.  I guess my question is this....does your bird population change every year, or every few years? Or is there some reason why they have left?

 

 

I think it does change every year, not sure why though.  I guess there are many factors that come into play such as weather, food supply, habitat, etc. 

I always have Cardinals but the population of other birds seems to change each year. 

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Matthew 6:26
James 1:2-5

The fact that birders notice the changing populations of birds is of importance to a variety of scientists ranging from ornithologists to climatologists.Does everyone participate in the Great Backyard Birdcount? http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

 

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An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar...

For years we had a good amount of chickadees, blue jays, and crows all summer in the Chicago area but over the past three years or so I see very few. I spoke to a member of our local audubon society and they said they think west nile virus has kept some of these birds away during peak mosquito season, though I did hear a chickadee the other day.  They seem to return as soon as the weather cools a bit.

Like someone else said, the information on population is important.  There's a great website I use to report all the birds we see, and you can opt to have it send you an email with your findings which also serves as a way to keep track for myself.  Here's a link.

 http://ebird.org/content/bcn/about/whatisebird.html

I hope the birds are back soon!

Yes, Gray, I take part in the GBBC every year.  I wish they did it during the Spring too!

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Matthew 6:26
James 1:2-5

That GBBC sounds like alot of fun... I'm going to look further into this... And the other one mentioned as well...  Thanks for the sites... I also forwarded this info to a few others I know that love birds...

 Thanks...

As for the question initially asked, I'll let you know next year, as this is my first year actually paying attention to birds....

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Did they get you to trade, your hero's for ghosts?

valleygirl:

Yes, Gray, I take part in the GBBC every year.  I wish they did it during the Spring too!

 

I completely agree, in fact I don't know why they couldn't do it in every season. 

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An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar...

I do know they change every year. We do get the same ones but its usually less or more of them. But this year, we have seen a shortage of any species of birds to our feeders. We always had Titmice but this year I have seen none. We get Chickadees but there are fewer and our Red-Bellied Woodpecker hasn't came through at all this year. And of course our beautifull Ruby-Throated Hummers do not like our nectar at all this year. One female comes by every time I change the feeders and leaves and doesn't return for a couple weeks. I think here in Central Indiana with all the rain we've had that the majority of birds are finding fresh food elsewhere. But yes, it varies from year to year. We've also had about 10 Brown-Headed Cowbirds this year(mala and female) when before we were lucky to see 1 or 2 visit. It depends on the bird, the location and the weather.

It is strange. My husband, who usually doesn't pay any attention to the birds, even commented on the scarcity of them yesterday.  I have no sparrows, and a couple of pairs of House Finches, which is very unusual.  And, like mint5j, my Woodpeckers are gone, along with the Hummers.  Very odd.  I thought it might be the increased presence of Blue Jays that was causing it.  Yesterday, I went to fill the birdbath and there was a dead Catbird.  I could not see any sign of injury or blood, so I don't know what killed it.  The bath sits away from the house, so it's unlikely it was caused from a window strike.  I'll just have to wait and see how the winter goes.  If I don't have birds at the feeders then, I'll know somethings up.