Where have the birds gone?

We have plenty of birds in Acton. The difference might be due to the birdbath, because they love to hop in and wash their feathers.

I live in Lynnfield and haven't experienced a decrease in birds other than the Hummingbirds that have left for warmer climate.

In Lakeville, all my gold finches, titmice, chicadees are gone. My thistle stockings have been unsed since the first or second week in September. Thanks for this article, I have been very concerned. We still have a couple of cardinals, the occasional blue jay and some wookpeckers that visit the suet, but that's it. We have several birdbaths which I change in the water in every day. I hope they come back for the winter.

I still have activity at the feeders - mainly because there is a pond within 10 feet of them. Otherwise, they aren't eating much at all right now. First freeze --- watch out!

I have been feeding birds from my backyard feeder for over ten years in Hopkinton. I have never seen the absence of birds from my feeder before.
And neither has my neighbor.
This isn't the first soggy wet year producing a natural abundance of food for birds in this region.
There is also an absence of several common year-round birds (ie.Tufted Tit Mouse, Goldfinch, Nuthatch, and Black Capped Chickadee) and their calls in the woods in Hopkinton. This is unusual.

I am so glad you wrote this article, as I have wondering the same thing! I live in Dover, NH and all of a sudden I only get an occassional blue jay or wood pecker in my yard now. Up until about 3 weeks ago we had an abundance of a variety of birds, and now the feeders sit almost untouched. Thank you for your article!

We live in Cataumet, on Cape Cod and have noticed that there are no cardinals, catbirds, robins or wrens anywhere...at our feeders or in the trees and bushes, even on the conservation land trails. We do have chickadees and titmice, and a few bluejays, as well as a rare sparrow and finch. Why wouldn't we see them around in the trees, or snacking on the berry bushes on the trails? Even before we started backyard feeding in earnest, we always saw the birds all over the neighborhood and the local environs. This is very concerning.

I live in Taunton, Ma and have family members that live in Dighton and Masfield. We are all avid birdfeeders. I have about 5 feeders with thistle, sunflower, suet, mixed berry, you name it and all my birds are gone. The squirrels are not even around. This is extremely concerncing and upsetting since I enjoyed having my cup of coffee in front of my large window every morning watching my birds and squirrels feed. Do we have a better scientific explanations as to the disappearence of these birds. I buy they are eating natural foods but wouldn't we still see the birds around?

I live in Huntington Station, L.I., NY for over 50 years and for most of them, I have had a feeder that is squirrel-proof. Many varieties of birds have come and enjoyed feeding, and I have enjoyed watching them. Flocks of grackles, doves, and the bluejays, cardinals, red-headed woodpeckers and catbirds and red-wing blackbirds, plus other different kinds. It is one month now that my seeds have gone uneaten, even by sparrows. I am a bit relieved that there is a reason, not my seeds. I still have hopes the birds will return soon.

This is really strange for 25 years there has never been a population disappearance like this year, I have never seen the English Sparrows gone, let alone only see 3 Chicadees 1 Titmouse 1 male Cardinal 2 Bluejays 2 Downy Woodpeckers and a flash of 1 Goldfinch. The only birds that have remained in a normal factor is the Ravens who usually maraud around at specific times. I live in a rural section of the Brimfield area and have been in the woods and have not seen any difference there as well, (in the deeper woods) I noticed this for the last 3 weeks. My feeder has been full for that long also. I hope that this is not some kind of catastrophy, but also I've not seen any evidence of death anywhere maybe I'm sad at their dissapearence. I've also noticed an extremely heavy (like nothing ever before) of the Production of nuts from all of the Shagbark Hickory trees??? Nature at its' best I guess.

Thank you for your article, I hope that it is accurate. We have been feeding birds for last 10 years in Sudbury and 16 years in Vermont. The only birds I have seen in the last month have been the woodpeckers, Downy and Hairy. All feeders lay unused, no squirrels or chipmunks have been hungry either.

I live in Oklahoma and the birds all disappeared from my feeders about a month ago. Last year I know I had lots of birds at this time. It is true that it has been a wetter year than usual and maybe there is natural feed, but they came all summer long and then just nothing. It is strange that it is the same thing back east. I especially had lots of cardinal. I hung a feeder up in a tree away from the house thinking maybe they would come to that but they are just not there.

Same for me in Medfield, MA. I have always had lots of birds at my feeders year round but for the past 6 weeks or so we have had nothing but the woodpeckers and a few other random other species...Hope they come back. I enjoy watching them....The squirrels are absent too. Don't really miss them.

I live on Martha's Vineyard and since November 5th the only birds that have come to my feeders are Downy and Hairy woodpeckers. My nuthatches, chickadees, tufted titmice, jays, finches, catbirds, doves, cardinals and other woodpeckers, even the squirrels and chipmunks, are gone. The silence is eerie! My neighbor a half mile away still has birds at her feeders. It's now November 12th.

I live in Kingston, been birding for over 20 years, and have never experienced a "dry spell" of birds at my feeder this long. A few goldfinch came back for a day or two and are gone again. The feeders are still very sparse of birds - mostly blue jays, morning doves and wood peckers. I usually have a ton of gold finches, tufted titmice, chickadees, cardinals and so on.

It is now November 13th and there have been a couple of frosty nights and still not many birds at my feeders in Ashburnham, MA (near the NH border).
I am a year round bird feeder and have been talking with other people in my office of like nature and they have noticed the lack of birds.
I hope it is just a fluke but this has been going on for weeks and weeks.
I have only had a couple of chickadees, tufted titmouse or two, maybe a blue jay. What gives?

I live in Branchburg, NJ and I have 14 feeders scattered throughout my property that are always filled. I, too, have noticed the abscence of all our regular birds and squirrels. I am attributing it to an increase of hawks in the area. Maybe they have always been around but I haven't taken notice because there were never a lack of birds. This time of year, the cardinals from the woods are always around the feeders at dusk and I haven't seen any yet. There are normally in the range of about 20 cardinals at any given time and they are just not around. During the summer months, I could not keep the feeders filled, but starting around early September, I would go out to fill the feeders and they were barely touched. Very odd!