Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Where Have All the Sparrows Gone?
I've been a busy citizen scientist this weekend, counting birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count. The Purple Finches are still here and I think they invited friends this weekend - I counted 10 at one time, but I know there were more. The most interesting birds I saw were 2 Red-Tailed Hawks soaring high overhead. This may or may not have been part of a mating ritual, but I like to think it was.
I spent some time walking in the woods this afternoon, hoping for better birds than I see at the feeders. Only turned up one Hermit Thrush, but while looking for birds, I found that the buds of the native azaleas have grown quite fat. Didn't have the camera with me, and it was too overcast for a good picture anyway. Last year this bloomed in April, so there should be plenty of opportunities for photography between now and then.
Speaking of buds, another citizen science project getting some publicity these days is Project BudBurst. (Note to organizers: the name sounds like an exploding beer can. I'm just sayin'.) I first learned of this about a month ago in a post by Xris, and Pam and Ki have also posted recently. This sounds like fun, and I have several of the target species growing in uncultivated areas of the property. I wish I had bothered to identify my maples last year; I assume they're red maples but I'm not certain they're red maples. They would certainly be one of the first to burst forth - I noticed the red buds today while looking for birds.
But getting back to birds and the title of this post, I didn't see a single sparrow all weekend. This strikes me as odd - I don't think I've ever submitted a GBBC checklist without a song sparrow or a white-throated sparrow or both. Strange.
My weekend bird lists are below:
12 Comments:
You're not the first to notice a lack of sparrows--and, depending on the location, even of starlings (that was a UK birder, I believe.) I haven't read anything empirical about these birds disappearing, have you?
Indeed, not many sparrows around. Everytime I think I've seen one it turns out to be a female house finch. Lots of nuthatches though.
Indeed, not many sparrows around. Everytime I think I've seen one it turns out to be a female house finch. Lots of nuthatches though.
Don't worry, their ALL safely here at my house, I'd be glad to send them home if you like!
Seriously, they have been a nuisance along with the starlings.
When I was a child, the sparrow was the most common bird in London gardens. Now they've completely disappeared. It's been put down to the increase in built up land, pesticides etc - who knows? There are still a few starlings Jodi, but nothing like the numbers there were. here in Milan in the autumn they mass for migration and there can be hundreds of thousands at any one time. The sky turns black.
PS - sorry, forgot to say : If you're interested, I posted on this last year (Sept 8th) - not only about the disappearance of the sparrows, but also about the fact that the most common visitor to my London garden is now the rose-ringed parrakeet, which is reproducing exponentially in the area and taking over completely.
Jodi: I'd heard about the decline in the sparrow population in the UK, but nothing in North America. I checked the GBBC results so far, and others are still reporting them, so maybe it's just me.
Ki: I've also noticed lots of nuthatches - both red-breasted and white-breasted. I'm always happy to see the red-breasted nuthatches; we don't get those every year.
Robin: I usually see a big influx of starlings in early spring, but they haven't shown up yet. I'm glad you're taking care of them for me ;-)
Sue: A few weeks ago, while driving in the country, the spouse and I noticed an airborne river of migrating birds - unimaginably huge numbers of them - stretching from horizon to horizon. I took them to be starlings, but that was a guess. The spouse is not the type to pull over to look at birds, so I don't have a photo - wish I did.
I'll be right over to look at your post on the rose-ringed parakeet. I had a chance to see the monk parakeets in Chicago, but as far as I know, they're just a curiosity - not threatening to take over.
Hey you were right! The robins are eating the winterberry holly berries. I noticed the mocking bird taking a few fruit too but I'm surprised the usually ravenous starlings only steal cat food we leave out for "little guy" the resident wild cat and leave the berries untouched.
I've seen quite a few red breasted nuthatches as well even if the Cornell folks have reported that they are supposed to be rare around these parts. In fact one flew up to the sunflower seed feeder yesterday just after it was filled - only about 4 feet from where I was standing. Took the seed into a douglas fir tree and I could see it hammering the seed facing in its normal down facing position.
Ki: The robins must be getting hungry by this time of year. I've been noticing them more and more foraging in the grass. The berries here are pretty much gone, so I'm glad they had yours still to find.
I wonder how long the red-breasted nuthatches will stay before moving back north.
Strange to hear about fewer sparrows ANYWHERE...I thought they were super-common all around the country. Except up here, because I've never seen a single one in my yard since moving in 10 years ago.(Too far north?) I do have some starlings and crows, but ravens are more numerous than either. Cardinals are a rarity in my yard, I've seen only 3 this whole time, though they are present in town. Maybe my place is too wooded or too many raptors...very odd.
Lisa: I think it's just me. I checked with some bird list-serves and eBird - others are still reporting sparrows. Come to think of it, I haven't seen many hawks around the bird feeders this year either. I'm not complaining about that one, though.
The birds in Vermont are having a difficult time this year because of heavy snow and limited food. Vermont Public Radio had a show last week on the problem with owls starving to death. I have seen several dead on roadways where they were eating road kills. We also have tremendous irruptions of pine and also evening grosbeaks this year and have had a barred owl looking for mice under the feeders for over a month now. I haven't seen the recent bird counts yet but they are always interesting.
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com
http://vermontgardens.blogspot.com
http://vermontflowerfarm.com
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