Birds MIA

[jal_ut]

Birds MIA........ Absolutely no birds around the place today. Not even the little red headed finch. Not even a magpie, nor a robin. Weird. I put seed on the bird feeder. Not a single bird has touched it. Where are the birds?

I know this is a gardening forum, but the birds are generally part of the garden. They are just there. But today nothing. Seems odd.

[applestar]

Has it been the whole day like this? Not just a passing raptor? (I always get a kick out of sudden silence from the surrounding birds, then a hawk scream or sudden racket by the Blue Jays and resumption of normal birdcalls)

Do you have raptor migration in your area? There's a place called the Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania where birders go to watch their migration....

[jal_ut]

Its been all day. No birds. Not a passing raptor. No blue Jays here. We have Magpies. They usually come to the feeder for a treat. Not today. (Magpies don't eat seed much, but I put a handful of kitty treats, (dry cat food) on the feeder. They come for that. Not today.)

There is usually a bunch of Eu. Doves and some English Sparrows hitting the feeder year round, Not Today! Not a bird one to be seen. The seed I put on the feeder this morning has not been touched. I have never seen the like of this....... it is weird!

The Starlings, Magpies and English Sparrows are year round birds. They are always here......... but not today. Not a bird to be seen.

[Taiji]

Maybe they're gathering in secret someplace for the coming attack. (Hitchcock's: The Birds)

[imafan26]

Sometimes around here when the birds decide to stay close to home it is because they sense a change in the weather. Do you get that happening there?

[jal_ut]

OK, this morning the English Sparrows showed up to eat some seed. I see one Eu Dove in a tree.

[jal_ut]

I took some birdseed out to the feeder. No birds on the feeder. I see a robin, a few starlings and magpies and a few E Sparrows. Also a couple of Eu. Doves. No other birds. Seems odd that there are no Juncos nor house finches. Still think some idiot put out poison grain.

[jal_ut]

We have two Mountain Ash trees out front with little red berries all over them and the robins and starlings are lovin the berries.

[applestar]

So... it's early yet -- maybe they are finding plenty of wild forage to eat still? Once the snowcover gets heavy, maybe they will be relying more on your feeders....

Great photo btw

[jal_ut]

Thanks applestar. The birds really hitting those berries today. By sundown there won't be a berry left. I saw a couple of Eu Doves on the seed feeder today. The usual E Sparrows MIA. No Juncos nor House Finches either. Ya, we will see what happens after we get some snow.

[jal_ut]

Yep, the berries all gone. Yes, today I did see three Juncos some E. Sparrows and a couple Eu Doves on the feeder. Still no House Finches around.

[jal_ut]

Today, 30 degrees, 4 inches of snow on the ground. Cloudy but calm. There is a bunch of Starlings cleaning up the fallen apples.

I have about a dozen Eu Doves coming to the feeder. No English Sparrows. One Junco. One House Finch. I swear, someone put out poison grain.

[PaulF]

All the "normal" birds are beginning to visit the feeding station. It was pretty quiet for a long time this fall. Maybe there was too much feed around instead of coming to their winter source. Still there are fewer than other years. I count birds for the Cornell University bird census and can go back to check past history. It will be interesting to see what's up.

[jal_ut]

Bird numbers are way down here. Don't know if we will ever know why.

[jasonvanorder]

I have two feeders out and the sparrows and finches clean the things out in a week. We don't even have snow yet. Once we get snow ill have to fill them every couple days. But nothing beats sitting at the table on cold snowy morning watching the birds

[jal_ut]

Today, there is a flock of near 80 Starlings cleaning up the fallen apples. Also about 30 English Sparrows hitting the bird feeder. Have seen 4 Juncos and one House Finch.

[applestar]

We had a couple of days of rain -- puddles everywhere and juncos and chickadees were bathing wherever they could

[jal_ut]

Have a couple of apple trees that had apples I did not pick, most of which are on the ground now. The Starlings have found them and are coming in a huge flock to eat the apples.

Right now I have about a dozen Eu Doves, one House Finch and one Junco coming to the bird feeder. The House Sparrows have disappeared. Usually I would have 20 or more House Sparrows, 20 or more House Finches and 30 or more Juncos after snow. I wonder if someone put out poison grain?

[jal_ut]

This morning on the bird feeder I see 130 or so E. Sparrow, 1 House Finch and 1 Junco. Out in the orchard there is a herd (200+) of Starlings cleaning up the fallen apples. I can't imagine why we don't have more Juncos and House Finches.

A picture from the past just to show you my bird feeder.

[jal_ut]

Today, no Starlings in the orchard. Guess they cleaned up and now have gone elsewhere. Did see one on my bird feeder.
Today on the bird feeder, 2 juncos, 2 House Finches and about 50 Eu Doves. 35 House Sparrow. Find it interesting that the birds coming most are those that were originally imports from some other country?

[jasonvanorder]

Thats a nice flock of doves you got there Jal. We used to see them everywhere here till they opened a hunting season on them. Now if you see more than 2-3 in one spot its a very rare sight. As a kid I used to love to listen to them in the summer

[jal_ut]

These are those Eurasian Doves. They are more like a barnyard pigeon. Not a Mourning Dove. They are an import that some nut turned loose. I don't think they are protected by law.

[jasonvanorder]

These are those Eurasian Doves. They are more like a barnyard pigeon. Not a Mourning Dove. They are an import that some nut turned loose. I don't think they are protected by law.

They look like a cross between a ring neck dove and a mourning dove. Either way good lookin birds

[Taiji]

Those Eu Doves seem to be taking over around here too. Used to be lots of mourning doves, but now there are very few; I think the newcomers are squeezing them out. So that's where they came from. I thought it might be a natural transition because of our hotter drought like conditions down this way of the last few years. Thought they were just more adapted to those conditions. Didn't realize they were an invasive species turned loose by humans.

I used to love to listen to the mourning doves; they were true musicians. So melodious. These new guys have a very hoarse unpleasant sound. Everybody around here says they need voice lessons. Wannabees!

[digitS']

The Eurasian doves are related to the turtledoves people can buy in pet shops.

They will cross with those and it may account for the white doves I have seen now and then.

It may also account for some very small doves that I have seen on city streets. Eurasian doves are also in local cities. Let me back up ... the smaller doves may just be the released domestic turtledove. Anyway, they may be crossing, also.

If they crowd pigeons, that probably wouldn't be a bad thing. There are still mourning doves here but I never see them in an urban setting. Fly-overs but never on houses or streets.

Steve

[jal_ut]

The Mourning Dove is migratory. Here I will see them May through August. Seems I am more likely to hear their song than see them.

Wiki says the Eu Dove came from Asia and were introduced in USA about 1980.

[jal_ut]

This morning 11 degrees F with a skiff of fresh snow. I took some seed out to the bird feeder. Got a couple of magpies, a few Eu Doves, one Junco, half a dozen E Sparrows. The House Finch is MIA. I don't know what happened to the House Finches. The whole bird population is way down here from what we usually have this time of year.