Date: 11/24/25 2:04 pm From: Michael Cavanaugh via groups.io <michaelcav...> Subject: Re: [labird] Fewer birds?
Friends, It would seem that one problem with this theory (plenty of resources outside our yards) is the paucity in Nancy's yard. She said the general environment nearby in Metairie was much degraded, and of course her yard is very attractive to birds. So it would seem that in her yard, at least, there would be MORE birds. If I am not mistaken, she is not simply relying on feeders, but also natural foods and needs.
Or do you think the birds are avoiding Metairie altogether? I suppose they could do that, but it doesn't seem likely. All that said, I don't have a theory. I do remind us that when DDT was the problem it took awhile to figure it out. And there is always the problem of things SEEMING to be true that aren't, though those of you like Nancy who have careful notes would seem to disprove that option. I also seem to have fewer racoons and possums and even armadillos lately, though I have not monitored closely. I also cannot blame cats, as I haven't seen any of them either. Just a thought,Michael
In a message dated 11/24/2025 3:52:43 PM Central Standard Time, <sandabar10...> writes:
Could that make this an exceptionally good year for food availability in
the wild, causing a more spectacular absence of birds in yards? If so, I
wonder if someone knows the conditions out there. That could be answer.
On Mon, Nov 24, 2025 at 9:05 AM John Dillon <kisforkryptonite...>
wrote:
> All,
>
> Keep in mind that declines at feeders this time of year are normal while
> birds take advantage of natural fall food supplies and while serious cold
> fronts have yet to occur.
>
> JD
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Nov 24, 2025, at 8:11 AM, Nancy L Newfield via groups.io <nancy=
> <casacolibri.net...> wrote:
> >
> > Sandra,
> >
> > I doubt that bird flu is the answer, or not entirely. Bird flu would
> > affect different types of birds differently. Birds that flock closely
> > together would spread it and we would be finding dead birds in our yards
> or
> > see them dead around the neighborhood. Hummingbirds should not be
> affected
> > because they are so anti-social. I had 2 sightings of a Buff-bellied
> last
> > week in spite of having a really good hummer garden this year. My last
> > southwardly migrating Ruby-throated was 19 October. Usually, I continue
> to
> > attract some tardy migrants into late October, if not November.
> >
> > NLN
> >
> >> On Mon, Nov 24, 2025 at 6:58 AM Sandra Barbier <sandabar10...>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Thanks for answering. Flu may be it. I also read a little on the net and
> >> it said birds don't use feeders as much when there is plentiful food in
> the
> >> wild, which led me to think about our lack of hurricanes this year, and
> >> whether that left more food for them in forests, etc., but we didn't
> have
> >> any hurricanes last year, either, in southeast or southwest Louisiana
> and I
> >> don't think you are affected by hurricanes very often in Shreveport.
> Also,
> >> would that explain their near total absence from yards as a whole? I was
> >> moved to ask the question because the man in Crowley notices his birds
> and
> >> is conscientious about feeding them, and he was concerned. The feeders
> >> aren't touched and he has found a couple of dead birds. He has frozen
> them
> >> but he doesn't know how or where to send them. His opinion is they don't
> >> use the rice fields so they are not being poisoned there. I haven't fed
> or
> >> watched birds in my yard for months, so I can't say for certain if they
> are
> >> here or not. I put out seed for squirrels. Could they be a problem?
> When I
> >> do look out late in the day there may be the mockingbird and a dove or
> once
> >> in a while a cardinal, wren or blue jay. I sometimes see a house
> sparrow. I
> >> did see a phoebe a couple of times just in the past two weeks. And Nan,
> I
> >> did see two hummingbirds in late October when I had some Turk's cap. My
> >> yard here in LaPlace has never been very birdy, not like it was in
> Marrero,
> >> except for goldfinches in winter five-ten years ago. I also used to have
> >> dogs, but now occasionally a cat wanders through or skulks awhile. For
> me,
> >> what's missing are small flocks of doves, chickadees, house finches,
> black
> >> birds and lots of grackles.
> >>
> >> On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM Nancy L Newfield <nancy...>
> >
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Sandra et al,
> >>>
> >>> I'm glad you brought this up. Here in suburban Metairie, the showing
> of
> >>> birds has been the worst I've ever seen. Since moving to the New
> Orleans
> >>> area in 1970, I've kept mostly regular handwritten notes on the avian
> >>> activity that I experience. There are about 45 notebooks, plus 4
> looseleaf
> >>> binders and more recently just checklists that I have created for
> daily use
> >>> and different ones for banding trips. The quality of the notes
> varies, but
> >>> I've aspired to be as accurate as possible, following guidelines that I
> >>> learned from a couple of birding courses that I took years ago, and
> from a
> >>> paper that Van Remsen published way back when.
> >>>
> >>> Now that we have eBird, I've worked at transcribing much of those notes
> >>> into eBird and have noticed a few other times when avian traffic was
> really
> >>> slow, but nothing like the dearth of birds at this time. Today, I've
> >>> counted 35 individual birds of 8 species. There was 1 small flock of 8
> >>> American Robins, the first I've seen here since November 2023. The
> >>> demographics and housing have changed a few times over my tenure at
> this
> >>> location, and never for the better, but we do still have some nice
> trees
> >>> and my hummer garden has been '*primo*', with only 1 recent hummer that
> >>> I saw twice.
> >>>
> >>> The birds are not here.
> >>>
> >>> NLN
> >>>
> >>> On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 6:01 PM Sandra Barbier via groups.io
> <sandabar10=
> >>> <gmail.com...> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Someone I know in Crowley says he has not seen any birds in his yard
> >>>> recently. I think he means migrants and locals. Has anyone else
> noticed
> >>>> this and if so, do you know why it may be? I am thinking drought,
> maybe.
> >>>> Found this recent map of drought Louisiana Drought Deepens: 43% of
> State
> >>>> Now Affected — Louisiana Farm Bureau News
> >>>> <
> >>>>
> https://lafarmbureaunews.com/news/2025/11/20/louisiana-drought-deepens-43-of-state-now-affected > >>>>>
> >>>> that
> >>>> shows he is in an area marked "severe drought." Thanks.--
> >>>>
> >>>> Sandra Barbier
> >>>> LaPlace, LA
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >>> Nancy L Newfield
> >>> Casa Colibrí
> >>> Metairie, Louisiana USA
> >>> <nancy...>
> >>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Sandra Barbier
> >> LaPlace, LA
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Nancy L Newfield
> > Casa Colibrí
> > Metairie, Louisiana USA
> > <nancy...>
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
