Posted on 09/19/2019 7:58:43 PM PDT by Java4Jay
The introduction of new hay mowing equipment that scalps the fields to give a few extra bales has pretty much wiped out ground nesting birds.
The millions of blackbirds are gone because of avian flu, but they are coming back. Bird populations are cyclical, just like climate.
But never let a crisis go to waste, and if you can’t find one, manufacture one.
So do foxes and raccoons.
Problem is, "thanks" to PETA, nobody is trapping anymore.
Used to be trappers would pay the landowner $x per pelt.
Now you have to pay him to set the trap and $3x per pelt.
It does seem rare when I hear birds singing outside. Years ago, it was commonplace. Live on property of several acreas, with many trees, and woods surrounding two of four sides. Something is not right here.
It’s the WiFi and cellphones. Never forget!
Tear down the Wind Farms and the birds will replenish.
If they were aborting their offspring, liberals would be cheering.
Who spends all their time counting birds? 2.9 billion birds is a lot of counting!
I blame the wind turbines that Greenies are installing everywhere. Just one wind turbine can kill thousands of birds annually!
Conversion of farms to forest, vastly increased raptor populations, no one hunting or trapping the biggest egg and chick predators, ‘possums and coons. The common species of songbirds flourished when everything was cleared and there were lots of hedgerows and not very many coopers and sharpies waiting for them to visit the feeders. Not sure that feeding birds is an occupation that gets Millennials off their cell phones either, esp when the price of seed skyrocketed as farmers switched to ethanol crops and the economy took a dive leaving people to cut wild birdseed out of their budget.
The numbers of coons and to a lesser degree possums is getting ridiculous. The coons have wiped out our local turkeys by feasting on eggs.
Yes...I think you are correct....sterile suburban yards with the green lawn and a few shrubs just don’t attract as many birds. Our backyard (what I call the “wild secret garden” has lots of birds, but then it is surrounded by arborvitae where they can nest, grapevine, roses, other trees and shrubs...and this is on a 6000sf city lot. Most neighbors have just lawns and a few shrubs. Plus, as others have said insecticides and herbicides could affect birds, also, and those pretty lawns require that.
That’s probably the biggest factor... since there’s a big drive on to eliminate certain pesticides.
Audubon runs lots of bird counts — Christmas, Coastal, Western Rivers, Waterfowl, and many more. Lots of bird counts are run in states, too. Google “bird counts and surveys” for more info. You can volunteer, too. Doesn’t take much time.
The Cornell University Ornithology Lab’s terrific eBird app allows you to count the species you spot and the data is shared immediately in a worldwide database. You can find out what species have been seen in areas near you. It’s really useful if you are on annual migratory routes such as the Pacific Flyway where millions of birds pass through every fall and again in spring.
I think all the bugs have converged on my place. Esp. mosquitos... come to think of it there are new skeeters introduced and they carry diseases that kill birds.
They’re also driven to not only ‘murder’ birds, but mice, moles, chipmunks, squirrels etc. Bird’s learn and don’t build nests near the house; the rest stay dumb.
Wind turbines do not only kill birds by the million annually, but they slaughter insects as well....including bees.
They have always been adapted to bobcats
Lots of chuck will’s widows here.
record his territorial song and play it back. He will go away after he gets a load of the “other” bird’s what for.
Killed by the windmills.
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