This nest is at the corner of my porch and for years it has been home to 3 or 4 broods a year. Maybe two years ago, I noticed a feral cat on the porch and the babies were gone. For around two years now the nest has been empty.
Posted on 12/16/2014 2:52:17 PM PST by saminfl
I live in the Florida panhandle. I have a couple of bird feeders in my yard and I keep them filled. For the last few weeks, I haven't had to add any food. It dawned on me that there are no birds in my yard anymore. I used to have many cardinals along with jays, doves, woodpeckers and all the little ones I am not smart enough to identify.
I thought it was just me, but I had dinner with two of my neighbors the other night and they brought up the subject asking where the birds have gone.
Have any Freepers noticed their birds are missing?
Safflower seeds? That’s interesting. Thanks!
Hopefully he spread the blame on coons, skunks and opossums rather than just the cats..........
More likely loss of habitat........
This winter a murder of crows has claimed my neighborhood as their natural habitat. They have scared most of the other birds away. They are loud and obnoxious. My dog hates them, growls and barks at them and chases them, but they keep coming back.
I prefer to see the birds on the beach, the smell is less intense...and more pleasing.
The wife and I just built a casita on our desert property next to the house. We call it "The Wren Den."
Yeah, we're weird.
Are they being given amnesty?
Feral and “outdoor” cats.
Cats are harmful to humans in many ways, collapsing wild bird populations everywhere they’ve been introduced not the least of them. Collapse bird populations - harmful insect populations rise. West Nile virus, Chikungunya, Dengue, coming up. Then there’s allergies/asthma and toxoplasmosis (look that up, it’s fascinating). Why we - the sane people - allow the “other people” to keep them around puzzles me no end. Especially if they let them outside their homes to inflict harm on local ecosystems.
Buy yourself a medium sized havahart trap and keep a garbage can full of water for disposal. You’d be amazed at how many cats you can trap in a year’s time.
Oh, and for the cat-lovers/whiners, I’ve heard it, save your electrons. I happen to love cats, I can just never eat a whole one.
Lol, global cats. I’m imagining a scene like from “The Trouble With Tribbles” but with Captain Kirk buried in a room full of cats.
Not weird at all! The Carolina wren has a beautiful song. We love it.
Frogs, snakes, alligators have all shown abnormalities.
j/k
5.56mm
This nest is at the corner of my porch and for years it has been home to 3 or 4 broods a year. Maybe two years ago, I noticed a feral cat on the porch and the babies were gone. For around two years now the nest has been empty.
I’m to the west of you. The cardinals came in last week. Other than that, this isn’t the time of year for much activity at feeders. The birds are still enjoying all of the natural seeds in the fields and woods. When the natural foods run low, they’ll start coming to your feeders.
Two reasons birds shy from an area are first, predator birds like hawks, and second, domestic cats, which decimate both adult birds and their hatchlings.
Daddy worked at Eglin for nearly 35 years. He started at Tyndall after he returned from WWII. They had a big layoff around 1954. He was lucky to get back on at Eglin.
There is no such base as Elgin AFB.
Coons, skunks and opossums are native species, so they don’t tend to throw the entire ecosystem out of balance with their predations. Not so with feral cats.
It sure does. I've been east twice and heard and saw CAWRs frequently. Loved them.
At the opposite end of the musical scale is our resident cactus wrens. They sound like an old truck that won't turn over: churgchurgchurgchurgchurhchurg... Lol.
I don't know if you watch "The Walking Dead," but the sound effects people keep adding cactus wrens in the background. And it's filmed in Georgia! But you hear -- but never see, of course-- cactus wrens constantly. Funny stuff!
Habitat in my town hasn’t changed in twenty years. But the use of lawn chemicals has! Much more prevalent now.
Despite what the ‘news may tell you there haven’t been any significant weather ‘extremes’ except for the California drought.
Last winter’s cold was ‘extreme’.
The only significant change in my local area is the arrival of a “cat nut” and a lot of cats.
That’s great! :)
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