We are in Jennings Lodge (Milwaukie, near Oregon City) and have had a large
number of siskins at our feeders in the past couple of weeks with the
goldfinches. The RB nuthatches seem to be around more as well.
Susie and Steve Deagle
On Jan 27, 2019, at 10:00 AM, Harry Fuller <atowhee@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
These irregular wintering birds all respond to food supply...here in
McMinnville we daily get RB NUthatches on our suet and sunflower seeds, an
occasional WB Nuthatch will wander by but there are few oaks in our suburban
area...I walk eight blocks to the nearest oak grove and I get Acorn
Woodpeckers and WBNU...
years ago a wise old birder explained that many, non-sedentary wintering
birds base their life on the calculus of calories...what food can I get for
what energy expended...if food supply drops for any reason, the nomads move
on...some years waxwings, other years not so much or none...other typical
winter wanderers: the kinglets, flicker, Varied Thrush, siskin (last year
abundant here, this year zero), redpoll, snipe, crossbills. In the midwest
nuthatches are migratory, here they are more nomadic as any low elevation
area could have reasonable food supply in a given year
For some reason there is less food for the RBNs this year...maybe an insect
die-off, or some quick in the ups and downs of caterpillar or spider
demographics.
Let's hope it is NOT the killer beak disease:
https://phys.org/news/2016-07-newly-virus-prime-often-fatal-beak.html ;
<https://phys.org/news/2016-07-newly-virus-prime-often-fatal-beak.html>
Maybe many of them just shifted east this year:
https://www.audubon.org/news/red-breasted-nuthatches-are-invading-northeast-fall
<https://www.audubon.org/news/red-breasted-nuthatches-are-invading-northeast-fall>
On Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 9:47 AM Daniel Farrar <jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:jdanielfarrar@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
I have observed the same lack of nuthatches on the Lane coast. Same with Red
Crossbill and Sisken. All very scarce this winter.
Daniel
On Sun, Jan 27, 2019, 9:34 AM Karen Saxton <kcsaxton@xxxxxxxxx
<mailto:kcsaxton@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
For the nearly 30 years I've lived in this house(outside Coquille, Coos Cnty)
we've had a large population of RB nuthatches coming to our feeder during the
fall winter and spring months. This year I started to hear them again in
June, then again in October. After that they disappeared. I have not seen or
heard one bird, in the woods, at the feeder. Ideas?
--
Harry Fuller
author of: San Francisco's Natural History: Sand Dunes to Streetcars:
https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/sfnh/ ;
<https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2017/04/20/sfnh/>
author of Great Gray Owls of CA-OR-WA:
https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-great-gray-owl-book/ ;
<https://ecowise.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/the-great-gray-owl-book/>
author of Freeway Birding: freewaybirding.com <http://freewaybirding.com/>
birding website: http://www.towhee.net ;<http://www.towhee.net/>
my birding blog: atowhee.wordpress.com <http://atowhee.wordpress.com/>
