I live in New England and usually have birds at feeders all year. Suddenly, there are none. Why?
March 31, 2010 Bird Suet Feeder
I have three feeders. One with mixed feed for all. One suet for woodpeckers (they are coming), and one with thistle for the smaller birds (usually, there is a feeding frenzy here).
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Comments (6)
Hummingbirds are fun, entertaining, full of energy and it’s easy to attract hummingbirds.
The population of birds is in serious decline everwhere!
"Since 1967 the average population of the common birds in steepest decline has fallen by 68 percent; some individual species nose-dived as much as 80 percent. All 20 birds on the national Common Birds in Decline list lost at least half their populations in just four decades."
http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/CBID/
Here’s the 20 species in steepest decline, but they are not the only ones: http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/CBID/browseSpecies.php
Here is what the Audubon Society says we can do: http://www.audubon.org/bird/stateofthebirds/CBID/whatYouCanDo.php
Rebound of raptors after DDT ban? Big owl hanging out nearby? Migration path change? Someone in your neighborhood poisoning birds?
Where did all the birds go?
While it is impossible for us to know the cause of each local increase and decline, there are several common causes for bird population fluctuations.
1.Habitat changes affect bird populations. If there has been a change in your neighborhood, such as trees being cut down or new houses being built, that could be the reason you are seeing a decrease in birds.
2.Natural food supplies–such as cones, berries, seeds, and insects–fluctuate from year to year, causing birds to shift ranges to take advantage of food surpluses or to compensate for food shortages.
3.Weather patterns often cause birds to shift ranges, especially in winter.
4.Birds of prey sometimes move into an area causing the local birds to feed elsewhere until the predator moves on.
Bird populations normally fluctuate from one season to the next and from one year to the next. Sometimes, however, there are significant, long-term changes in the numbers of particular birds in certain areas.
dont know – probably not one reason alone but several reasons….
including deforestion in areas where the birds spend the off season (nesting areas are destroyed)
cats and windows probably kill alot
certainly air pollution…
maybe in a week or 2 they will be full again? lets hope…
Have you tried a wholesale change up in your food supply? Is it possible a malicious person has poisoned your food supply and the birds can smell the difference? That is my best shot. Good luck.
my father notices huge fluctuation at his feeders, but in the last years there are fewer kinds of birds than at first. there are now only cardinal, blue jay, junko, chickadee, tit mouse, white-throated sparrow, and his steady visitor, the grossbeak9s) that come back to make nests and feed young there.
In the past there were other kids of birds too, but they would fly away fast before beign identified. There were alos more of every kind, except chickadee, which now live on his feeders.
birds will probably come back to your feeders. sucks how you rarely see changes for the better. I’m a birdwatcher (casual). i want to see all the birds i can while they are still there.