• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Slow to no traffic at my feeders... (1 Viewer)

During the last summer, I put up a ground feeder and a tree feeder. Both seed.
I feed sunflowers, peanuts, almonds, Milo, some mixed dried fruits, and Safflower.
I saw LOTS of Common Grackles, Red Winged Black Birds, and Robins.
There are some American Goldfinches in the area.
I was also lucky enough to have a pair of tree swallows pair up and lay 5 eggs in my nest box.
All five hatched and flew off successfully. I wish I knew how many made it to maturity.
Now for the problem I have now.
I haven't seen anything except a House Sparrow or two since the snow rolled in and the cold.
I live in East Central Minnesota, so I know that migration is happening or has already.
Is there a reason for an extreme decline in the numbers I'm seeing at my feeders?
Thanks!
 
This is a mystery to me too, how the numbers fluctuate so dramatically, even from week to week. I had a large flock of Lesser Goldfinches camped out in my backyard for almost a month, then fairly suddenly, over a few days, they disappeared. My local expert attributes it to the abundance of natural food we have right now in California, though I wonder about predators lurking around as well. Mother Nature always presents a mystery.
 
The same over here in western Germany. Mabe also in other areas of my country. During wintertime there was almost no traffic at the hanging feeders. Even the squirrels were rare. But with some really cold days in February while December and January had temperatures way to high for wintertime the traffic increased and now is on a very slow decline.

The nest boxes are to far away hung on trees in the woods so I can't control the traffic there.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 7 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top