Where are the birds?

[birddog 68]

all kidding aside, there have been a lot of cases and concerns about birds disappearing or dying in the USA and NO one know's why

I know my state back last yr came out and asked folks to STOP feeding them,
as they felt gathering birds about feeders would kill more birds, due to it possibly be something that spreads from one bird to another, and having lots of them intermix at feeders was thought to be a big concern and cause of birds dying!
I know I slowed down and then stopped feeding birds here for a few weeks
but I was finding birds DEAD after I stopped feeding them, not before!

due to,
I think they became to use my place as a major food source, and relied on it to get by!(also why I have a LOT of birds here)
and once I stopped, they were starving to death literally! not able to find enough food other wise, or many of them didn;t!

so, I went back to feeding, as always,
and since then, I have only found 1 dead bird, a morning dove, and NOT sure what or why it died, but that was the only one over the past 12+ months now!

But I do see a big drop is populations of a lot of species, grouse, the state game bird in PA< is about GONE< just like the pheasant, there not surviving or thriving at all on there own,
woodcock, again, there MIA in this state as to some yrs back,
bat's about gone here, Dragon fly's about gone
things that seem to be thriving though are more on the pest side of things, TICKS< Mosquito's , NO shortage of them any more
and just a decade or two ago, a TICK was never something we ever seen here, yet now, there every where!
and for those that don;t think its a big deal
well, hate to bust anyone's bubble, but the mosquito has killed more humans than another critter on this planet!

Loose so many BAT's due to White nose illness, IMO< has been a huge reason why skeeters are in such high numbers here now!

I think a lot of state game dept's and wildlife agencies need to get off there asses and start getting way more active in saving the species we have, and figuring out what is causing things to disappear!
after all its there JOB to do so!
just don;t try telling them that, they will argue its not!
been there done that In PA< with Pheasants, where they blamed everyone BUT themselves for them going extinct in the wilds of PA! too much pride to be able to admit they made a mistake(same can be said about how they let the forest get destroyed by over browsing from deer) now, grouse, wood cock, are almost gone, and still they don;t take any credit for things going bye bye!
funny how that works, when your JOB is about protecting wild life and wild life goes missing, yet NOT there job according to them!

Pa grouse population decline is from West Nile virus and the population will keep declining until they are gone.
It's disheartening since I love grouse hunting.

 

[mrbb]

Pa grouse population decline is from West Nile virus and the population will keep declining until they are gone.
It's disheartening since I love grouse hunting.

yeah that excuse has been floating about for a LONG time now
before that it was, they were JUST in a down cycle , they claimed that for yrs before switching to the West Nile deal!

MY point isn;t blaming X Y OR Z, my point is, rather than just blaming things is to get more active in a solution, as if it is an illness or such, odds are it will spread from one state to another
and as such ALL game depts should have some motivation to get more active and involved and NOT wait till its too late , like so many do
and just accepting the fact there downwards till there gone, is a BS answer from a game dept, who's job again is to protect wildlife!
when were talking PA< specifically, don;t forget PA< Game dept OWNS the most land East of the Mississippi
has the largest budget, and is sitting one literally MILLIONS of dollars in timber and odds are BILLIONS of dollars of natural gas
so when they cry NO money, be sure to call BS< really loud to them, they can have the budget to find or try to find answers and cures IF they wish to do so, but so far, its just excuses and half hearted research!
and with the current trend in getting rid of natural gas, they should have more incentive than ever to use what they have while its valuable! IMO!

 

[david g ranes]

well in a balanced environment all things level out, I have NO shortage of coons and skunks and foxes, yotes and such here, yet have a TON of all wildlife, minus NOW grouse and woodcock(used to have tons of them too)
any place that is having larger issue's with coons and foxes and such, will only last so long, a once the abundance of food ends, so do the numbers of predators, as without food, they cannot survive!
the bigger issue I think is when I hear folks complain(and not saying you are)
' is its just due to folks start to see a coyotes and predators more often near home and such, and they automatically THINK< there are LOTS of them all over
when the fact typically is, there isn;t any more of them, your seeing them more due to there having to come into towns and cities more to find food, as natural foods ain;t there like they once were
then add into the fact how much land every yr is lost to development!
people move into where things are, see them more and then complain! making ti seem like there are way more of them than maybe there really is!
if we can be honest, wildlife has learned to adapt to humans WAY better than humans have learned to adapt to them

just look at the diets of wildlife and how its changed over the yrs! and how they learned that where humans are there is MORE food, designer landscaping is like salad bars to a lot of wild critters
Deer, one of the biggest targeted hunted critter out there, was a browser by nature
and NOW< decades of food plotters , and HOW poorly forest have been managed for have good steady reliable browse ALL YR,
and the majority of deer now, shrive off grazing over browsing!
total change in how they survive
as I said, wildlife has adapted better to us than we do to them!

another big problem is loosing so many hunters and trappers
our numbers are at an all time low, and when huntable game disappears I don;t blame numbers of hunters to drop as well

PA was ONCE a top 5 pheasant state, and now we have basically ZERO wild pheasants, that's a BIG difference! and why I say game depts really need to step up there game and react quicker to issues NOT try and solve things After things are too far gone, which seems to be the way they work 99% of the time, , lots of room for improvement in there jobs IMO!

well in a balanced environment all things level out, I have NO shortage of coons and skunks and foxes, yotes and such here, yet have a TON of all wildlife, minus NOW grouse and woodcock(used to have tons of them too)
any place that is having larger issue's with coons and foxes and such, will only last so long, a once the abundance of food ends, so do the numbers of predators, as without food, they cannot survive!
the bigger issue I think is when I hear folks complain(and not saying you are)
' is its just due to folks start to see a coyotes and predators more often near home and such, and they automatically THINK< there are LOTS of them all over
when the fact typically is, there isn;t any more of them, your seeing them more due to there having to come into towns and cities more to find food, as natural foods ain;t there like they once were
then add into the fact how much land every yr is lost to development!
people move into where things are, see them more and then complain! making ti seem like there are way more of them than maybe there really is!
if we can be honest, wildlife has learned to adapt to humans WAY better than humans have learned to adapt to them

just look at the diets of wildlife and how its changed over the yrs! and how they learned that where humans are there is MORE food, designer landscaping is like salad bars to a lot of wild critters
Deer, one of the biggest targeted hunted critter out there, was a browser by nature
and NOW< decades of food plotters , and HOW poorly forest have been managed for have good steady reliable browse ALL YR,
and the majority of deer now, shrive off grazing over browsing!
total change in how they survive
as I said, wildlife has adapted better to us than we do to them!

another big problem is loosing so many hunters and trappers
our numbers are at an all time low, and when huntable game disappears I don;t blame numbers of hunters to drop as well

PA was ONCE a top 5 pheasant state, and now we have basically ZERO wild pheasants, that's a BIG difference! and why I say game depts really need to step up there game and react quicker to issues NOT try and solve things After things are too far gone, which seems to be the way they work 99% of the time, , lots of room for improvement in there jobs IMO!

We have an almost unhuntable quail population but some of that is also due to fence rows tore out to farm that last inch of ground but when you have 20 coons showing up at every deer feeder that is put out they destroy a lot of nests and you darn sure aren't going to starve them out where I live to much agriculture same with turkeys used to have hundreds now don't see an abundance of them any more but you see a lot of broken eggs if you are out and about in the spring. David

 

[mrbb]

We have an almost unhuntable quail population but some of that is also due to fence rows tore out to farm that last inch of ground but when you have 20 coons showing up at every deer feeder that is put out they destroy a lot of nests and you darn sure aren't going to starve them out where I live to much agriculture same with turkeys used to have hundreds now don't see an abundance of them any more but you see a lot of broken eggs if you are out and about in the spring. David

right I can agree in big AG area's food is rather easy, BUT now ALL yr and a coon has to eat all yr
the flips side of things too, is, odds are the feeders you speak of are part of the problem, your drawing in wildlife, knowing it can find food, and it allows them things to breed more , general rule of wildlife is, when lots of food, LOTS of animals,
SO<
and I know its not what anyone wants to hear and I don;t man it as a bash
but its like crating your problem, and then blaming the animals you attract for the problems they cause! when there JUST being what they are, there surviving as nature makes them

the added food source of the feeder, is the UNNATURAL thing, which is creating the higher predator numbers, thus effecting the game birds!
NO??

 

[Muddyboots]

We also removed a bird bath which I believe is a greater threat to spreading the avian flu. Still not seeing or hearing birds. Saw a humming bird today which is the only bird in yard today. Understand we are on 5 acres out in country next to ag fields so norm bird population is high. Which makes this even more eerie. Have woods next to us so even then no birds. I really think this is like severe EHD we had few years ago when seeing a deer was a revelation. Hopefully this will run its course and population will rebound.

But I do agree coon pop is extremely high, so are yotes snd never see so many raptors. Coopers, red tails, even bald eagles.

 

[david g ranes]

right I can agree in big AG area's food is rather easy, BUT now ALL yr and a coon has to eat all yr
the flips side of things too, is, odds are the feeders you speak of are part of the problem, your drawing in wildlife, knowing it can find food, and it allows them things to breed more , general rule of wildlife is, when lots of food, LOTS of animals,
SO<
and I know its not what anyone wants to hear and I don;t man it as a bash
but its like crating your problem, and then blaming the animals you attract for the problems they cause! when there JUST being what they are, there surviving as nature makes them

the added food source of the feeder, is the UNNATURAL thing, which is creating the higher predator numbers, thus effecting the game birds!
NO??

No your not telling me anything they have to eat I'm just answering a question where are the birds you add up pesticides varmints house cats over population of people it takes a toll on several different things . I wish they never allowed a baiting for deer learn how to hunt people put their 6 year old on a bait pile from then on that's how they think it is done just human nature to do it the easy way. David

 

[david g ranes]

No your not telling me anything they have to eat I'm just answering a question where are the birds you add up pesticides varmints house cats over population of people it takes a toll on several different things . I wish they never allowed a baiting for deer learn how to hunt people put their 6 year old on a bait pile from then on that's how they think it is done just human nature to do it the easy way. David

Hell we are run over with armadillos now never even saw one 10 years ago. David

 

[Ol' Red]

If Lake Mead and Powell dry up, we're gonna find Jimmy Hoffa.
I expect that we will be in some serious water trouble, although building permits are growing everywhere. Stupid.
We still have lots of birds though. Quail numbers in my neighborhood and migratory dove are numerous. Arizona is doing well still, even though we have many non-native species competing.

Hoffa is not in those lakes, so it will be alright. Hope lake Michigan doesn't get too low.

 

[birddog 68]

yeah that excuse has been floating about for a LONG time now
before that it was, they were JUST in a down cycle , they claimed that for yrs before switching to the West Nile deal!

MY point isn;t blaming X Y OR Z, my point is, rather than just blaming things is to get more active in a solution, as if it is an illness or such, odds are it will spread from one state to another
and as such ALL game depts should have some motivation to get more active and involved and NOT wait till its too late , like so many do
and just accepting the fact there downwards till there gone, is a BS answer from a game dept, who's job again is to protect wildlife!
when were talking PA< specifically, don;t forget PA< Game dept OWNS the most land East of the Mississippi
has the largest budget, and is sitting one literally MILLIONS of dollars in timber and odds are BILLIONS of dollars of natural gas
so when they cry NO money, be sure to call BS< really loud to them, they can have the budget to find or try to find answers and cures IF they wish to do so, but so far, its just excuses and half hearted research!
and with the current trend in getting rid of natural gas, they should have more incentive than ever to use what they have while its valuable! IMO!

Grouse are usually in a up and down cycle lasting 7-10 years.
As far as being proactive for diseases, we're taking about a government agency and we all know how fast they move and that goes for the timber also. For some reason people in government offices think logging is a bad thing. Logging does wonders for undergrowth that all the critters use and could create income.