Good to see your response! Not aware of any game farm birds in immediate area. However, over the yrs have seen Bobwhite Quail, Hungarian Partridge & Chukar. So, good possibility there's been some releases or escapes in the region. Certainly, a possibility for the melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant.
Date: 12/22/25 8:28 am From: Elizabeth Medes via groups.io <liz.medes...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] Melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant
Oddly enough, we saw them strolling along roads near farms on Maui. I was
convinced at first they were some kind of rare exotica. The photo with
this checklist was taken in dense fog.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S127058864
Liz Medes
Emmett
On Mon, Dec 22, 2025, 9:18 AM Joel Tinsley via groups.io <feralpolka=
<gmail.com...> wrote:
> I've never experienced them , but my son has seen black pheasants here in
> central Oregon.
> Google them and you'll see that they are fairly commonly bred for game
> farms.
> Joel Tisley
>
>
Date: 12/22/25 8:18 am From: Joel Tinsley via groups.io <feralpolka...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] Melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant
I've never experienced them , but my son has seen black pheasants here in central Oregon. Google them and you'll see that they are fairly commonly bred for game farms. Joel Tisley
Date: 12/21/25 8:29 am From: lcarrigan_55 via groups.io <carriganbw...> Subject: [IBLE] Melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant
Sure not much to report lately. Mainly, Canada Geese, Trumpeter Swans coming over daily, from winter wheat fields to the river. And, moose. See 2-3 daily on place, from yearling calf to cows to bulls, both young to a couple big, mature ones.
This AM, looked out across winter wheat field & saw, what I thought was a Raven with 2 Pheasant roosters. Binocs showed a completely black RN Pheasant rooster. First I've ever seen.
Date: 12/15/25 3:35 pm From: Tom & Susan Soniville via groups.io <tomnsueid...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
Having bemoaned our lack of birds, we woke up to double the usual number of lesser goldfinches and juncos. Around noon a flock of about 100 robins came into the neighborhood and were followed by about 50 cedar waxwings. Next up was a large flock of starlings, who tried to find out how many of them could land on our bird bath at one time (about a dozen is the correct answer). Two yellow rump warblers appeared with the starlings (a first for our yard). The final group of the day was a flock of two to three dozen magpies. By 3 PM all the birds were gone, not so much as a junco remained. I'm guessing the next weather front is pushing them, or maybe it was our neighborhood's turn on their rotation schedule.
Great fun either way!
Tom Soniville
From: <IBLE...> <IBLE...> On Behalf Of rattlesnake4873 via groups.io
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2025 10:08 AM
To: <IBLE...>
Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
In Valley County, McCall area, there is a very good seed crop in the ponderosas, so my feeders lack customers. Birds are out there but getting natural foods.
Dean Jones
Boise & Donnelly
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy Tablet
-------- Original message --------
From: "John Schmidt via groups.io" <jsecho03...><mailto:<jsecho03...>> Date: 12/14/25 9:14 AM (GMT-07:00)
To: <IBLE...><mailto:<IBLE...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
So I took a hike yesterday around the house. Within a mile we saw flocks of goldfinches, juncos, pine siskins and chickadees. They're out there, just not at the feeders. That's a good thing.
Date: 12/14/25 9:08 am From: rattlesnake4873 via groups.io <Rattlesnake4873...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
In Valley County, McCall area, there is a very good seed crop in the ponderosas, so my feeders lack customers. Birds are out there but getting natural foods.Dean JonesBoise & Donnelly Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy Tablet -------- Original message --------From: "John Schmidt via groups.io" <jsecho03...> Date: 12/14/25 9:14 AM (GMT-07:00) To: <IBLE...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders So I took a hike yesterday around the house. Within a mile we saw flocks of goldfinches, juncos, pine siskins and chickadees. They're out there, just not at the feeders. That's a good thing.
Date: 12/14/25 8:14 am From: John Schmidt via groups.io <jsecho03...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
So I took a hike yesterday around the house. Within a mile we saw flocks of goldfinches, juncos, pine siskins and chickadees. They're out there, just not at the feeders. That's a good thing.
Date: 12/13/25 9:07 am From: Diann Stone via groups.io <dstoneak2id...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
Thanks to all of you for these interesting reports. I appreciate the
descriptions of your observations.
Diann Stone Boise
On Fri, Dec 12, 2025, 9:20 PM bike4birds via groups.io <tmccabe9=
<outlook.com...> wrote:
> Wow! I didn't realize how lucky I am. I've got Juncos out the wazoo in my
> yard, and frequent visits from Song Sparrows, House Finches and M. Doves.
> Plus, when they all disappear, I can usually be sure that Alice, our
> resident Cooper's Hawk, is around.
> Plus the Boise Greenbelt has been great of late and my daily totals have
> exceeded 30 birds. Today's raptors included a GH Owl, RT Hawk, and A
> Kestrel.
> Tom McCabe, Boise
> ------------------------------
> *From:* <IBLE...> <IBLE...> on behalf of Jeff Brough - Idaho
> Falls via groups.io <brogjl...>
> *Sent:* Friday, December 12, 2025 2:20 PM
> *To:* <IBLE...> <IBLE...>
> *Subject:* Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
>
> I still have the normaL flock of sparrow & finches, a few chickadees, but
> what's missing this year are the usual 5 or 6 juncos and nearly always a
> song sparrow or two. Saw a single goldfinch back in November, none since.
> I'm sure the open fields have kept them spread out a bit, but I've had not
> even a glimpse of the missing ones.
> And I've noticed very few hawks on the poles going back & forth to
> town. Maybe they're utilizing a different area this year.
> How about anyone else in Eastern Idaho?
>
>
> Jeff Brough
>
>
>
Date: 12/13/25 8:06 am From: John Schmidt via groups.io <jsecho03...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
Same here (foothills east of Pocatello). There was an abundance of seeds on the maples, the fir trees are loaded with cones, we've had very mild temps and snow cover is nil. I often hike in the forests around here and the birds are out there, hard to say if the numbers are down or if they're just more dispersed. I have noticed more red crossbills than years past.
Date: 12/12/25 8:20 pm From: bike4birds via groups.io <tmccabe9...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
Wow! I didn't realize how lucky I am. I've got Juncos out the wazoo in my yard, and frequent visits from Song Sparrows, House Finches and M. Doves. Plus, when they all disappear, I can usually be sure that Alice, our resident Cooper's Hawk, is around.
Plus the Boise Greenbelt has been great of late and my daily totals have exceeded 30 birds. Today's raptors included a GH Owl, RT Hawk, and A Kestrel.
Tom McCabe, Boise
________________________________
From: <IBLE...> <IBLE...> on behalf of Jeff Brough - Idaho Falls via groups.io <brogjl...>
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2025 2:20 PM
To: <IBLE...> <IBLE...>
Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
I still have the normaL flock of sparrow & finches, a few chickadees, but what's missing this year are the usual 5 or 6 juncos and nearly always a song sparrow or two. Saw a single goldfinch back in November, none since. I'm sure the open fields have kept them spread out a bit, but I've had not even a glimpse of the missing ones.
And I've noticed very few hawks on the poles going back & forth to town. Maybe they're utilizing a different area this year.
How about anyone else in Eastern Idaho?
Date: 12/12/25 6:48 pm From: Tom & Susan Soniville via groups.io <tomnsueid...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
We are in the West Bench of Boise, and our bird counts have been way down since early spring of this year. Rough guess is that we are getting no more than 25% of the numbers we are used to. Early this year we figured some of that was due to the bird flu going around. It seemed to hit the American Goldfinches the hardest and we took down the feeders for about 5 weeks. We also had a couple of sharp shinned hawks visiting regularly, which probably got us a down grade on Google feeder reviews. Hummingbird numbers were way down, as well. They showed up at our house at least a full month later than usual and in smaller numbers. We have seen a couple of days with larger flocks coming in, but mostly we are still well below average. I'm wondering if our warm winter is reducing demand, as well. The only upside is that we have saved some serious money on seed, but I'd rather be buying seed.
Tom Soniville
-----Original Message-----
From: <IBLE...> <IBLE...> On Behalf Of Bill Moore via groups.io
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2025 12:38 PM
To: <IBLE...>
Subject: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
I seem to have lost my touch. Two feeders are up, sunflower and mix, and very few birds are hitting them. Used to have to refill every few days, but now they just last and last. A few goldfinches every once in a while hit them. I've got a normal magpie flock and I saw a shrike in bush, a few juncos and a Rough Legged Hawk, but not much else.
Maybe it's a really good seed crop in fields and bushes that's not yet covered up by snow or another disease outbreak. Any one else seeing really low feeder activity?
Date: 12/12/25 1:20 pm From: Jeff Brough - Idaho Falls via groups.io <brogjl...> Subject: Re: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
I still have the normaL flock of sparrow & finches, a few chickadees, but what's missing this year are the usual 5 or 6 juncos and nearly always a song sparrow or two. Saw a single goldfinch back in November, none since. I'm sure the open fields have kept them spread out a bit, but I've had not even a glimpse of the missing ones.
And I've noticed very few hawks on the poles going back & forth to town. Maybe they're utilizing a different area this year.
How about anyone else in Eastern Idaho?
Date: 12/12/25 11:38 am From: Bill Moore via groups.io <hootowlbill...> Subject: [IBLE] No Birds at Feeders
I seem to have lost my touch. Two feeders are up, sunflower and mix, and very few birds are hitting them. Used to have to refill every few days, but now they just last and last. A few goldfinches every once in a while hit them. I’ve got a normal magpie flock and I saw a shrike in bush, a few juncos and a Rough Legged Hawk, but not much else.
Maybe it’s a really good seed crop in fields and bushes that’s not yet covered up by snow or another disease outbreak. Any one else seeing really low feeder activity?
<riverscapes...>
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