According to what I learned in a master naturalist course cats are the #1 killer of birds with windows being #2. Screens help and for any windows w/o a screen I now leave the blinds down (but horizontal). I never saw my cat with a bird but that doesn't mean he didn't kill them, especially fledglings. He is now gone so there may be more chipmunks and birds in the coming year.

Tons of birds here this year.

We live east of Cheyenne on native, mixed-grass prairie. My two favorite birds are residents in this ecosystem, meadowlarks, which I’ve loved since I was a kid, and nighthawks, which I’ve come to love almost as fiercely. Additionally, there are other species that evolved on the (mostly) treeless plains, e.g. horned larks. We’ve been out here almost 7 years now and the development we bought into is pretty well built out now. Most new residents immediately start planting trees. Several feed large amounts of seed. The urban birds are moving in in droves with every tree and pound of seed. The natives are hanging on, owing to the generous amount of open space the developer had the foresight to set aside, but I dread the spring when I won’t hear meadowlarks singing their hearts out for prospective mates, and nighthawks won’t be making their electrical “bzzt” and the whirr of their dive brakes as they swoop down on flying insects on a summer night.

Eh. Just about the same as usual. We have a hummingbird feeder right where I look, and I constantly see one or sometimes 2 fighting over it. They're not the friendliest species with one another. Interesting how some see more and some see less. Just goes to show you can't assume national or worldly trends from one location. I was the one who wanted the feeder originally. Of course my wife is the one who has to fill it.

My dog stopped barking at them and seems to just have figured out its a waste of time and energy. We'll put the feeder away for the winter in a few weeks. It'll go back up in maybe April.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
According to what I learned in a master naturalist course cats are the #1 killer of birds with windows being #2.

I have a solarium on the back of my house. Would get several bird strikes per year.
I put these clingy pictures on the glass and that stopped the bird strikes.
Kind of ugly but I didn't like picking up dead birds.

My bird feeder customers seems to be pretty normal this year. The non-bird feeder crew, robins and swallows, seem to be in normal numbers, also.

It may be my particular location and I live in the country, but I have not seen a meadowlark or crow around my place in 4-5 years.

Here in the suburbs of North Texas there's an abundance of grackles, an irritating black bird that populates shopping centers and poops on every car in the parking lot.
Unfortunately, I've seen a lot less dove in the last ten years.

This year it’s been the most I have seen in the 7 years I have lived in southern illinois. Field have just been packed with black birds and when they jump up it looks like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Lots of owls at night, bunch of hawks too. I’ve even been seeing more eagles than usual. The only birds that seem down in my area are hummingbirds but I don’t put out any attractant so who knows. This was right outside my kitchen window on my birthday so that was cool. Kinda hard to see zoomed in with my phone.



I think this hawk likes to rest here and drop his load off all over my deck but it’s sure cool to look at.

West Nile and Avian Flu has been really bad this year.

I haven't seen a decline in the bird numbers, but some species are not as numerous and some are all over the place.

House finches have been abundant this year while the Blue Jays have been meager. Goldfinch, Chickadee, Nuthatch, Titmouse, Robins, and Cardinals have been average. I still see Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers daily. Red-bellied woodpeckers have visited fewer times. Flickers are scarce.

I've taken to feeding only Flaxseed to ward of the squirrels. If I put sunflowers or such in, it's gone in a day. I live in a heavily wooded native oak tree neighborhood and they breed like horny teenagers. Most of the birds will eat the flaxseed, although it's not their favorite. I've not seen a decline in the numbers. Mostly cardinals, chickadees and such with a few woodpeckers, and lots of doves, both nourning and white wings.

I've tried humming birds and it's always hit or miss and I stopped because I got tired of changing out the feed.

Markedly less in the part of Virginia I live.
No songbirds at all, less doves and smaller birds, even less Crows. Have not seen a BlueJay in ages.

Years ago, every summer I would see a new species hanging around my home , nesting. The past 2 years none, and haven't even seen non-transient birds nesting.

Clear cutting forests, bird diseases have vastly contributed to this decline in my opinion. Another factor is the Bush Hog mower,farmers and ranchers wanting clean cur fields, destroying many species habitat.

I'm really saddened at the decline, love watching them and appreciate what they do for the world.

Ten to fifteen years ago I would throw bread in my back yard and it was filled with seagulls in just a few seconds. Now I can only assume it's the raccoon's eating it at night. Can't remember the last time I saw a Black Skimmer.

I've only been at this house since June '18, and I'd say the bird population has been similar each year. I feed, but I notice birds where ever I am.

What I have noticed since I've lived here is that there were no house sparrows the first year. A tone of land clearing and new houses are popping up, so here come the city birds! Not happy at all about either.

Far fewer birds the past few years, wife has bird feeders out all year round for the most part. Even fewer insects, especially bees, than in past years.

I've been driving up and down I-85 to get to the range I shoot at for 15 years. I used to have to clean bugs off the front of the car and windshield regularly and now rarely do.