Date: 11/24/25 5:54 pm From: Paul Conover via groups.io <zoiseaux...> Subject: Re: [labird] Fewer birds?
Sandra, all,
A number of the possibilities floated in responses could be true.
Typically, the conventional wisdom is as John says, that food supplies
and warmer weather are allowing birds to live off the land away from our
yards. June and July were pretty wet, and from what I saw around
Lafayette, that translated into good berry and nut supplies. In my yard,
vines and shrubs produced bumper crops of bird food, and I'm sure the
same plants out in the wild did as well.
Another important point to remember is the record cold of last
winter. At my house it got down to 4 degrees F with 9 inches of snow.
That snap probably resulted in heavy mortality, and birds from species
with high site fidelity that might have returned to the same yard every
winter might not have survived to do so this year, leaving vacancies
that it might take more than one year to fill. I typically host several
R-c. Kinglets and Orange-crowned Warblers every winter, but this year I
think I only have one of each. On the other hand, some species are more
nomadic by nature, so they might show up just about anywhere in typical
numbers.
In my yard thus far, I'm seeing very little bird activity, but
it's a bit nuanced. Birds like chickadees still make appearances, but
much more sporadically than in some winters. That could mean that the
population is smaller and more thinly spread, that the birds are finding
better food elsewhere, or some other option that's beyond me.
In terms of whether the birds have arrived yet or not due to
weather, there may be something to that as well. In the past few days
I've been seeing a lot more birds in the field than I did a week ago.
The woods were pretty dead last week, but yesterday in CENLA I saw large
flocks of robins overhead, and today in SWLA I got incredible response
to screech owl calls, especially from large groups of 20-50 Myrtle
Warblers per stop where I only saw a few last week.
Paul Conover
Lafayette
On 11/23/2025 6:00 PM, Sandra Barbier via groups.io 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
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