Date: 3/31/25 3:10 pm From: Matthew Dodder via groups.io <mdodder...> Subject: Re: [pen-bird] Absence of Fox Sparrows
Sorry, I’m responding from a Santa Clara County perspective. But I also have seen many fewer Fox Sparrows this winter as well. In fact, for the past two winters, we have had none that I recall at our SCVBA headquarters in Cupertino. I’ve voiced my concern to other birders and it seems it is a shared observation.
Matthew
Matthew Dodder (he/him)
Executive Director
Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance
22221 McClellan Rd.
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-252-3748
<director...>
scvbirdalliance.org

> On Mar 31, 2025, at 2:22 PM, Avis Boutell <boutella...> wrote:
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> I live on Bernal Avenue, up against the Pillar Point Bluff County Park. We have been reliably seeing fox sparrows daily since they returned last fall. They appear with other sparrows in the morning where we spread food on the ground under over-hanging bushes. In past years, a few stay around until mid-April, when they migrate, and then begin to reappear in September. Avis
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> <0 2025 03 31 fox sparrow 01.JPG>
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> On Monday, March 31, 2025 at 01:26:39 PM PDT, Kris via groups.io <grlbordr...> wrote:
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> I live across the street from the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve bridge. The past several years it has been a struggle to keep up with my five large bird feeders; lately it’s been a ghost town. I’m guessing it’s at least a 75% drop off, and I’m missing fox sparrows that visit very often. The hummers appear to be the same.
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> I’ve had a huge drop off in raccoon, opossum and skunks too.
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> I’m glad to see these posts, only to suggest I’m not making these huge drop offs up.
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> Kris
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> <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=Global_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100000604&af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_> >
> On Monday, March 31, 2025, 11:22, Garth Harwood via groups.io <gharwood...> wrote:
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> 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.)
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> Garth Harwood, Pescadero
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> On Sun, Mar 30, 2025 at 2:42 PM Naomi via groups.io <http://groups.io/> <nlgoodman...> <mailto:<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).
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> #checklists #birds
> 2020 1159 2923
> 2021 1266 2725
> 2022 1291 3206
> 2023 1053 2124
> 2024 599 1307
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> I haven't had one in my yard since 2019. Worrisome.
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> --
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> Deep Roots, Flourishing Future
> Garth Harwood (he/him)
> Senior Naturalist
> The Trust For Hidden Villa
> Phone: (650) 949-8643
> Email: <gharwood...> <mailto:<gharwood...> > Website: www.hiddenvilla.org <http://www.hiddenvilla.org/> > Address: 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
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> <0 2025 03 31 fox sparrow 01.JPG>
