Can Anyone Help With Missing Birds? (1 Viewer)

Hey all

So we had a large group of sparrows in our back yard until last week, at least 20 of them living in a neighbouring bush that backs onto our fence. They appeared every day after we moved in, slowly at first with just a few then within a week of starting to feed them, loads! We also had a dunnock, a robin, a couple of pigeons who were nesting in a large Eucalyptus tree in a neighbours garden, a bunch of starlings and a couple of blackbirds as well as the ocassional visit from some goldfinches who nest in next doors front garden.

Sadly they seem to have vanished ever since my neighbour with the Eucalyptus decided to have the tree felled, a real shame as the pigeons had their nest there, that was last Tuesday. Ever since the sparrows, dunnock, and all the others have simply vanished, all except the robin who lives in my next-door neighbours hedge and appears each morning in a tree on my other side next door singing his little head off.

I know that goldfinches will emirgate to Spain sometimes so not overly worried about them as they have actually been gone a while now, but the sparrows! Where did they go? They haven't been seen at all since the tree fellers were making a right rocket while taking down the tree last week. We're worried they got scared and moved on, the starlings haven't been back either, though they are in the neighbouring road opposite ours, I saw them yesterday.

We keep food out, we have quite a selection too, mealworms, niger seend, regular seed and fatballs as well as peanuts (in a vain attempt to try and coax some blue or coal tits into the garden which is failing) but nothing, no birds at all have visited the table in over a week.

Will they come back? Why did they go? We're mystified, and a little upset frankly, not only for the loss of the birds but also the great tree that was felled. ||

Any help or advice would be appreciated!

Hi again Draddict

I shouldn't worry too much just yet. There's usually plenty of natural food in the wider countryside. So they go off foraging. When the natural sources get harder to find, you'll probably find they'll be back to your restaurant. This may be around the middle/end of October.

delia todd said:

Hi again Draddict

I shouldn't worry too much just yet. There's usually plenty of natural food in the wider countryside. So they go off foraging. When the natural sources get harder to find, you'll probably find they'll be back to your restaurant. This may be around the middle/end of October.

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Thanks! You don't think it was anything to do with the tree then?

Probably not for the longer term... trees fall down all the time due to age and gales etc. They learn to adapt.

Hopefully your neighbours will replace it with a native species.

I don't know if it's the same species of eucalyptus as they have in Australia; but over there they're known as 'widow makers', as huge branches will suddenly fall without any warning.

Ha! No we never saw anything like that, I think she just wanted the landlord ot remove it as it was so big.

Its just a shame, a good healthy tree being taken down for asthetic purposes is so wrong.

Had a similar "problem" recently. lots of resident sparrows,dunnocks,pigeons,doves,blue tits, great tits, blackbirds and several others Sparrow hawk used to flash through about once a day...never seemed to get anything.

Sparrows bred well and we got over thirty all feeding/ being fed, furiously. emptying the feeders in a couple of hours.
Suddenly about 10 days ago all went quiet, only one or two sparrows and no sign of the tits, dunnocks still creeping about dashing from one bit of cover to the next....and then one morning I spotted the SP hiding in the hawthorn tree. no birds to be seen...SP was back again in the afternoon.
4 days later the birds crept back, up to usual numbers a day later...no sign of SP.

Now, our sparrows do move around a lot once the young ones are able to look after themselves , so can only hope SP has decided to hunt elsewhere for now.

Den

My neighbour used to have a big tree and it was a favourite for my Great Spotted Woodpecker. Before she flew down to my feeder she'd perch at the top singing, then my neighbour's took it down ans now she just flies in.