The Birds Are Missing!

Three days ago I had probably a hundred birds in my yard.....finches, redbirds, titmouse, chickadees.....

I have 3 feeders in my yard. The birds were so numerous, I went out and refilled the feeders that afternoon.

The next morning, I expected to see a lot of birds. It was so quiet. So unusually quiet. Not a bird fluttering in a tree anywhere. It is 75 degrees here.

Someone here recently had a thread about a winter storm approaching and I figured we would be seeing a lot of birds flying in here to get out of the cold. They did. But just for a couple of days.

This is so unusual because I usually have a lot of birds this time of year. I have a redbird who thinks he owns the feeder and sits there all the time. I have a few woodpeckers that also come to the feeder. (I have not seen them in 2 days)

I have thistle feeder for finches and sunflower seeds (small black ones) in the others.



But the past two days....NOT ONE BIRD!

I do not hear them; I do not see them.

Something seems very wrong...........

I find that birds will disappear for a while if there's been a hawk around - they'll go somewhere else for a while then gradually drift back. I've known them vanish for a few weeks for this reason. Did you notice any predators around prior to this disappearance? It could be that.

You know, sometimes birds like to migrate when it gets cold. No conspiracy there.

Heh. Yeah, not much of a conspiracy, but I commend you for doing something excellent for the survival of these birds.

Of course, some might argue that the REAL conspiracy here is that you're mothering these birds, making it harder to survive when there's no humans around anymore.

But I wouldn't worry about it... because birds are smart. Sometimes I wonder if they're not really smarter than us... their viewpoints just seem so much more... fantastic.

reply to post by Alethea


Where do you live? CA ?

2nd line cause the first gets lonely.

The birds need their food to be there at 5-6am even 8am. You see the birds that are in your garden may have a nest 100 miles away, and they travel to your house every day because they have gotten use to a good food source, a dependable one.

If they travel to your garden one morning, and there is no food; they die.

Make your own "Fat Balls". Here is how:

I have been buying fat balls from pet shops,then someone on wab said they were not nice make your own,so yesterday i bought 2lb of beef dripping melted it in a saucepan and poured it over, wait for it,crushed crackers,cockatiel seed,wild bird seed,sunflower seed,chopped peanuts,and sultanas,it nearly filled my mixing bowl.
I stirred it well and left to cool.after about four hours i gave it another stir and left it another hour,by this time it was starting to set,so i got my hands in there and started to roll some balls,what a mess i got into as it started to melt in my warm hands,so that was no good what do i do now?.
Putting my hands in two plastic sandwich bags solved the problem,when i am down town next i will invest in some of those plastic through away gloves then i shall be well away, i made 19 big fat balls out of that mixture and it cost me next to nothing to make,in fact they look good enough to eat.
Put some out today but there wasn't many birds about as it was pouring with rain all day,of course now its dark its stopped,will see what tomorrow brings.
Source

They need those for the Winter, seeds just wont do.

reply to post by the_denv


So, what you're telling me is that there REALLY is a conspiracy here to cull the bird population by making them dependable on humans for food? And what then, when there is no more?

Originally posted by skjalddis
I find that birds will disappear for a while if there's been a hawk around - they'll go somewhere else for a while then gradually drift back. I've known them vanish for a few weeks for this reason. Did you notice any predators around prior to this disappearance? It could be that.

Ah.....so that's it!

Yes. I saw a hawk digging in my compost pile a couple of days ago. I know there are a lot of good fat earthworms in there.

What can I do to scare off the hawk? I want my little birds back!

PS.
Thank you to everyone who took time to answer.



[edit on 30-12-2009 by Alethea]

I have three macaws and sometimes I 'wish' they would disappear for a few hours. Usually when they have discovered & destroyed something that they were not supposed to.