The Wildlife Enquiries team receive lots of calls each year (especially late summer) from concerned members of the public noticing a sudden disappearance of birds.
Is this something you've noticed or are there more birds than usual? We'd like to hear your thoughts!
There are a number of factors which cause this apparent and sudden disappearance. Many of these reasons are described in full on the Wildlife Enquiries blog here. Hope you enjoy
Lloyd
I live in a built up part of London, no trees just concrete and bricks but we do get some birds, including lots of swifts every year. However, as in previous years I notice patterns. In the spring when birds nest and young hatch there is a lot of activity in the garden and on the bird table - my garden is only about 25ft square if that. I later see lots of fledgling sparrows, blackbirds, blue tits, wood pigeons and starlings in the garden, even a pair of robins bring their one baby to feed. This year a pair of blackbirds successfully raised 5 young in my wisteria. Then come summer most birds tend to disappear and I assume they go to the fields where there are plenty of seeds and grubs for them. The wood pigeons and collared doves seem to remain though. Come autumn, they should start returning as in previous years and that's when I start putting out more food for them.
I too live in a built up area in Bedford with a small garden like you and all my birds have dissappeared. I have Robins, Gt Tits and Blackbirds usually but there has been nothing on my feeder for several weeks and all I see now are Magpies and lots of Bumble Bees and a few Butterflies. Sometimes a Woodpigeon will come and sit in my Lime Tree so I am waiting for Autumn to arrive to see who comes back and whether any Redwings will visit again. There are no Starlings or House Sparrows here, but lots in rural mid Wales where I have just returned from holiday-maybe they have emigrated to be rid of Unleaded Petrol carcinogens?!
I live in a little village just outside a small south coast town. Our birds disappeared slightly during June and July but have come back with a vengence now. We have Blue Tits, Gt Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Gold Finches, robins, blackbirds, and loads of Starlings. I had to get a squirrel proof feeder to slow the Starlings down. They can get through a nut feeder of suet in 36 hours. The squirrel feeder makes it last about 4 days.
You must take the opportunity of a life time during the life time of the opportunity
Magpies and crows live in abundance round here but never come into the garden. Like you I do get a lot of Bumble Bees in the garden, don't mind them. Also noticed loads of hover flies this year. Same goes for cabbage white butterflies. I still put out a mixture of food daily for the birds but it is only the Wood Pigeons and Doves that faithfully return to eat - the pigeons will feed for a good half hour on the seeds unless disturbed.
I live in a semi built up area and have had a varying of species of birds visit the garden from starlings, chaffinch, robin blackbirds, dunnock, goldfinch, wren and long tailed tits, but this year the numbers of Green finch have dropped drastically, i have a small gathering come to the feeders but nothing like the 2 previous years when they were in their droves, could this be due to the virus that effected the finches during the past few years?
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Wow, you get a good variety of birds, lucky thing. I used to get loads of starlings in the garden but this year there were hardly any. Don't know why. However, I did notice during the spring that there were more sparrows then in the past in the garden and what's more they nested somewhere in this area because they brought their young to the garden to feed once they had fledged. They've all gone now, but hopefully they will be back.
My "regulars" haven't disappeared at all this year and they are feeding just as if it were the depths of winter. Moreover, all the youngsters (starlings, robins, sundry variations of the tit family and chaffinches) are still around as well - and I would have expected them to have dispersed by now. So, effectively, it is costing more for me to feed the birds now than it did last winter.
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
i just have robins and blue tits at present but they can fly away any time they like and will return when conditions are good for them i have three pounds so its not water that their seeking
the friedly bid watcher
Hi wingwalker
I live in a small rural village.
I noticed a massive decrease in Goldfinches and Greenfinches last year, however this summer has proved to have record numbers in my garden, it seems that some have even had a 3rd brood.
I did notice at beginning of the year that some of the greenfinches had a virus which affected their feeding and was very concerned but they appear to be getting over this, I have been rigourously cleaning all my feeders to try to do my bit.
You should hear the protests from the goldfinches and greenfinches when I take the feeders down and clean them!! Talk about looks could kill. Sunflower hearts seem to be their favourite.
Not so many wrens about and Robin numbers are down with only one young one seen.
I live in a village just outside Glasgow and have noticed that there haven't been any green finches or gold finches coming to the garden in the past month or two. Other bird numbers e.g. starlings, house sparrows, remain in healthy numbers. I've noticed a recent increase in blue tit numbers, as a few juveniles are now coming to the garden to enjoy the peanuts.
Warning! This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar. Approach with extreme edginess.
louloudi Hi wingwalker I live in a small rural village. I noticed a massive decrease in Goldfinches and Greenfinches last year, however this summer has proved to have record numbers in my garden, it seems that some have even had a 3rd brood. I did notice at beginning of the year that some of the greenfinches had a virus which affected their feeding and was very concerned but they appear to be getting over this, I have been rigourously cleaning all my feeders to try to do my bit. You should hear the protests from the goldfinches and greenfinches when I take the feeders down and clean them!! Talk about looks could kill. Sunflower hearts seem to be their favourite. Not so many wrens about and Robin numbers are down with only one young one seen.
Hi Louloudi,
I too had to thoroughly clean all of my feeders a couple of times during the virus spate and as you say the birds do hold grudges to this.lol.. and dont really want to know how important this is, just keep the sunflower seeds coming!I have to agree with the Wrens in the garden, very little sightings of these this year but out in the meadows and hedgerows i have seen plenty, does this tell us something about whats happening in peoples gardens? i have to say a lot of the surrounding gardens have been turned into more of a leisure place, ie patios laid, hedges cut down and panelled fences errected instead, most of the wrens favourable habitats have been removed, but we are still fortunately lucky to have quite an ubundance of robins still present this year including juveniles.
I thought birds disappeared to enjoy a late summer countryside feast? There's seeds and fruit galore around, so they don't bother coming into gardens.
LloydScott The Wildlife Enquiries team receive lots of calls each year (especially late summer) from concerned members of the public noticing a sudden disappearance of birds. Is this something you've noticed or are there more birds than usual? We'd like to hear your thoughts! There are a number of factors which cause this apparent and sudden disappearance. Many of these reasons are described in full on the Wildlife Enquiries blog here. Hope you enjoy Lloyd
Lloyd i've noticed a decline in greenfinches in my garden, 2 perhaps 3 a day now only, in the spring early summer i was filling up 3 feeders daily!. today one feeder is lasting 2 days!! Goldfinches visited us very little this year and also a decline in long tailed tits'which were the most persistent of my garden birds until the greenfinches took over, even the siskinshave gone!!!. Good news is my robins are back for the winter approaching but where are the rest of my birds!!!.
Blue Tits Great Tits Robin Wren and Dunnocks all feeding as normal and of course wood pigeons, stock doves and collard doves - the skies around are full of birds flying to and fro but not into the garden so much, however, if you venture out into the lanes they are all feeding on elderberries and blackberries which are still in abundance - a huge black flock of starlings were disturbed as a went past some elderberry trees this morning. Also jays, jackdaws etc are ground feeding in the fields on the nuts and acorns. Finches are finding plenty of fresh seed in the fields as well - they do all pop in to see whats doing but I dont expect to be back to normal until mid November. My garden backs on to fields and woodland so obviously there is plenty of natural food about - I do notice the mealworms and raisins disappear everyday tho.