Where have all the backyard birds gone?

Published 1:30 am Sunday, July 24, 2016

Calls and emails about birds often center on declining visits from certain backyard species.

Phyllis Cooper, who lives in south Everett, called a few weeks ago: “The crows aren’t coming to my peanuts as always … There’s not a sign of crows. The skies have been totally empty of crows. Usually I’d see crows ‘hollering’ if the peanuts were all gone. I used to have flocks. They even had babies here.”

I talked with her this week and the situation has barely improved. “I only have two (crows), and no finches of any kind.”

On another call: “What’s happening to my hummingbirds? I always have them coming to my feeder but now they’re not coming!”

Steve at Sunnyside Nursery checked in by email: “What has happened to all the goldfinches? I used to go through 50 pounds of Nyjer (seed) every spring and then it was 40 and then 30 and now zip. I saw one pair the other day zipping through the nursery. What’s up?”

Let’s start with the assumptions that your feeders are squeaky clean, the seeds are fresh, and that you’re not leaving your hummingbird water out until it turns cloudy from bacterial growth.

You can do everything right and still have a bird ‘”deficit” in human terms, even though that “deficit” might be the natural ebb and flow of birds. Birds follow the seasons and food availability. They are hard-wired to react to changes such as the length of days and colder temperatures, as well as the overpowering urge to breed.

Our winter birds are regular visitors to our feeders because it is a fast-food restaurant that doesn’t require time to hunt for scarce food.

In spring, they are spending a lot of energy to attract mates, defend territories, and gather nesting material. They’ll take food where they find it – including your feeder. Chicks seem insatiable. Coming to a feeder is a risk parent birds are willing to take. Feeding out in the open is not natural behavior for most of them but they’re in a hurry to move as much food as possible back to those open beaks.

By mid-summer, adults need to eat less to maintain their body temperatures in warmer weather, and the number of birds at feeders usually declines.

But they have to eat, you might say. What’s wrong with my menu?

Your seeds provide only part of their nutritional needs. The default position for birds in summer and early fall is to forage in natural habitats for berries, seeds, nuts fruit and other options (insects for protein) that provide them with all the nutrients they need for muscle and fat to migrate, or for staying here in the winter.

Your feeder is but one of many food sources and some will return when their natural food starts to run out. So keep a little seed in the feeder just in case. You haven’t done anything wrong.

Now, saying all that, there are other issues. Birds are sometimes put off by new items in your back yard and may take time to adapt. You may love your new windmill; some birds may not.

Songbird populations have been sharply declining for years, and that may affect your backyard population because there are fewer birds to spread around. Crows, like songbirds, will forage for their natural foods. They have good memories, and I would expect some to return to Cooper’s backyard.

Birds that forage on the ground or sit in low bushes may have been affected by neighborhood cats.

Hummingbirds are out looking for insects and have been feeding on fuchsias and other flowering plants. Finches also have periodic irruptions (large numbers of unexpected birds in an area) and die-offs that can affect the sense of what is normal with local birds.

Come fall, as many insects die off, berries and fruits and nuts won’t be enough. Roll out a clean feeder and fresh seeds and enjoy.

Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.