The results for the 2008 count are in and they are not good for birds in general:
Garden birds decline by 20 per cent in four years
The RSPB's 2008 Big Garden Birdwatch results shows another steep drop in the average number of once common birds seen in each garden.
In the 2004 survey an average 34.8 birds were seen per garden but this year numbers slumped to 28.4 birds.
Since the survey began in 1979 starling numbers have fallen by 77 per cent, house sparrow by 64 per cent, blackbird 39 per cent and robin 37 per cent.
While some of this may actually be due to a decline in certain species, don’t jump to conclusions. Winters have been mild of late and…
… others are not using our gardens to find food because they are able to forage successfully in the wild. In milder winters birds don't have to rely on scraps from the bird table to stay alive.
Add the lack of gardens, nesting sites and feeding stations (as well as feral/house cats) and you get a drop in the number of birds reported.
I can certainly support two ideas in the article.
1) Mild winters allow for more foraging. There were times between snow storms here at the Aerie that the numbers of birds seemed to have dropped. Recently I even thought the freeloading Common Redpolls and Evening Grosbeaks had set out for their northern homes. Then we got some snow. Not much, but enough to cover the ground. And the hordes were back to their looting and pillaging of my feeders.
2) The Redpolls and Evening Grosbeaks are invaders from the far north that seldom come this far south even in the winter. But, last fall, Mark and I noticed the complete lack of beech nuts in the woods around the Bolt Hole in the Adirondacks. If beech nuts and fir seeds were in short supply in their normal wintering grounds, these birds would have, and perhaps did, continue south until they found a sucker to feed them.
Incidentally, they mention in the article that the Goldfinch made the Top Ten list as far as the numbers seen at the garden feeders. Now, I knew the American Robin and the English Robin were different birds with different appearances, but I did not know that their Goldfinch was nothing like our yellow-and-black Goldfinch. All I can say is go over to the article at the link and look at the pictures. You’ll have to scroll down to see their Robin and Goldfinch.
h/t Theo Sparks atLast of the Few
3 comments:
I actually have a cardinal who lives in the tree in my backyard. That's pretty strange for Brooklyn. I leave him some food and he fights off the sparrows and pigeons. But I draw the line at a Baltimore Oriole. The only thing that would be worst was if George the Stork Theodore showed up in my backyard.
You remember the Stork? Quite the adventure to watch him play ball.
All the outfield grace and skill of Dave Kingman without the power at the plate.
He was a cool guy though. He once gave an autograph to a pal of mine who was a big Met's fan. But he was one funny looking dude.
Post a Comment