Not many babies this year. : (

15 years ago

I have found 7 clean nests. 3 of them I know had young babies taken. I have not seen many babies at all this year. There have been a few House Finches & TUTIs, a couple of Cardinals and a couple Chippers + a Cow Bird. There have been no Dees, Robins, Grosbeaks, Orioles and so far no Gold Finches. I have not had an overabundance of Hawk sightings. The 2 things I have had this year is an outbreak of Red Squirrels and a Family of Crows that nested in the area. Could either one of these really eat that many babies? I am in the woods and I always have tons of babies. It is usually very noisy this time of year with all the babies begging but it has been very quiet. I am really concerned. Any thoughts?

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Comments (7)

beegood_gw
15 years ago
Crows ,Magpies, squirrels they all eat baby birds.
lisa11310
Original Author
15 years ago
We have always had Crows and Squirrels but also tons of babies. I am trying to figure out what is different this year. The only 2 things are more Red Squirrels and the Crows actually nested here. I really have just a fraction of the babies I should have. We are talking a pretty significant # here. The 3 nest that I witnessed the babies were 3-4 days old so it's something that prefers babies that age over eggs or older babies (like a Hawk).
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kendra2003
15 years ago
I can't say for sure Lisa, but the red squirrels do cause havoc. A friend of mine had HOSP nesting up under her roof for years. This year the red squirrels showed up and the HOSP disappeared. You know they don't give up a nesting cavity easily, so that would be my best guess.
lisa11310
Original Author
15 years ago
Kendra the Red Squirrels were really what I was leaning to. We have had Crows before but I never noticed a decline in babies, if anything I think they keep the Hawks away. These Red Squirrels chewed through 3 tubs (Tupperware type)of BOSS this season, I finally had to store the seed in a metal bin with a locked top. Unfortunately we have the perfect habitat for them, woodpile, rock piles, lots of natural cavities in the woods and my pond (also lots of baby birds). We have had a few here and there before but there were quite a few this year. Now that nesting season is all but over they seem to have moved on. Haven't seen one in over a week. I thought they were so darned cute. The good news is there is no closed season on them, I couldn't do it by hubby sure could, there has been a deadly fire in the area the last month and it was blamed on chewed wires. All I know is there has been a SERIOUS decline in babies this year and I HAVE to fix it!
kendra2003
15 years ago
Lisa, yes the red squirrels are just adorable. Makes it hard to believe how much havoc they can cause. It is terrible that you have such a decline in baby birds this year. It is also very scary to think they could be chewing through wires and potentially causing a house fire.
schoolhouse_gw
15 years ago
Not many babies around my property either, but the sparrows that nested in the birdhouses and under the eaves of the outhouse raised two - sometimes three broods it seems. I never saw them actually leave the nests, but I did see parents feeding young ones on the ground and in trees. Again, not that many though.Saw no cardinal, bluejay or even robin fledglings or mourning dove.

The neighborhood does have three cats now, mine, the neighbors and a feral I started to feed so I'm sure that may have a great deal to do with it. Altho I don't see any "kills" or half eaten prey. Very strange.
prairie_love
15 years ago
Although I don't really know I do think it is just an aberrant year for you. The reason I think that is that last year we had no birds. That's not quite true, we did have birds, but far fewer than usual. The orioles in particular were absent. We were terribly concerned and wondered whether something had changed and we would not have the abundance of birds again.

But then this summer has been awesome! I don't remember ever having as many rb grosbeaks and orioles as we have had this year. The goldfinches and house finches and woodpeckers and nuthatches are prolific, the brown thrashers were everywhere, native sparrows galore ... (although I am realizing we had very few catbirds...

Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised and my optimism was raised by our birds this summer. So I honestly think and hope that yours is just an off year.

Here's hoping your birds are back next summer!

Not many babies this year. : (

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beegood_gw

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Not many babies this year. : (

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beegood_gw

lisa11310Original Author

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kendra2003

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