Date: 3/31/25 11:22 am From: Garth Harwood via groups.io <gharwood...> Subject: Re: [pen-bird] Absence of Fox Sparrows
Weighing in from several of my coastside birding patches including my
Pescadero home: I too have seen a complete absence of Fox Sparrows this
winter, both at home and at my favorite coastside spots (which have
consistently held them since I started birding a lot here in the
mid-1990s.)
I'm used to seeing fluctuations in a lot of species such as wintering
Varied Thrushes or waxwings, which follow local trends in equally variable
food resources, but Fox Sparrows have tended to be real homebodies and very
stable from year to year. So I think this is a phenomenon worth monitoring.
On a positive note, my first Warbling Vireo of the spring showed up in my
yard yesterday, and my first Wilson's Warbler sang here this morning 3/31.
Garth Harwood, Pescadero
On Sun, Mar 30, 2025 at 2:42 PM Naomi via groups.io <nlgoodman=
<hotmail.com...> wrote:
> The eBird Status and Trends report shows a steep decline (>25%) over their
> entire range between 2012 and 2022. After 2022, it appears that 2024 was a
> particularly bad year. Here are the number of checklists with Fox Sparrows
> and number of individual Fox Sparrows reported each year in San Mateo
> County (stats from Birdview).
>
> #checklists #birds
> 2020 1159 2923
> 2021 1266 2725
> 2022 1291 3206
> 2023 1053 2124
> 2024 599 1307
>
> I haven't had one in my yard since 2019. Worrisome.
>
>
>
>
--
Deep Roots, Flourishing Future
Garth Harwood (he/him)
Senior Naturalist
The Trust For Hidden Villa
Phone: (650) 949-8643
Email: <gharwood...>
Website: www.hiddenvilla.org
Address: 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
