Disappearing Goldfinches and other birds? (1 Viewer)

I currently live in northern NJ, and have noticed a disappearance of American Goldfinches, House Finches, Common Grackles, and Brown-Headed Cowbirds from my feeders. I asked a local nature reservation manager if he had any similar experiences. He said that he had not seen a goldfinch in months. But I asked a friend who also lives not too far away, and she said that she is having larger than ever flocks of goldfinches. Since then, the house finches and grackles have come back, but we still have no Goldfinches. Does anyone have an explanation for this random disappearance?

She's providing tastier food?

All of your Goldfinches were at my feeder, down here in Georgia for the last week.

Birds do move a lot more than most people realise but it's made more obvious wheh they disappear from your feeder, if there was no feeder, you might not notice their absence. When when we first moved in to our home here in Russia, the commonest bird at the feeder was Siskin. They all disappeard and have so far never returned?


A

I did some research, and discovered the likely cause was disease outbreak.