Date: 4/9/26 3:17 pm From: Russell Benedict <BenedictR...> Subject: Re: [ia-bird] Chickadees - not a sighting.
Steve and others,
Prior to the winter bird count, I went two or three months with no BCCH visiting my feeders - in most years, I have multiple visits per hour. Then, during the count, I found only 5 BCCH as opposed to 20+ in other years. I wonder if they are susceptible to avian influenza / bird flu? Their low numbers are heartbreaking - chickadees are such great ambassadors for all of the bird world - they are active, adorable, happy to visit feeders, and live in just about any habitat with a few trees. I did hear two singing today in the woods along Lake Red Rock, so hopefully they will rebound. Russ Benedict, Pella / Knoxville.
Russ Benedict
Professor of Biology
Director of Prairies For Agriculture Project
Department of Biology, Central College
812 University Street | Campus Box 09 | Pella, Iowa 50219
________________________________
From: <ia-bird...> <ia-bird...> on behalf of Steve Harvey <saharv23...>
Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2026 9:01 AM
To: bird lists <ia-bird...>
Subject: [ia-bird] Chickadees - not a sighting.
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It has occurred to me that we have had a shortage of BCCH this winter/spring.
We've been overloaded with purple finches when last year it was house finches.
Unremarkable numbers of the regular winter feeder birds.
Anyone else notice the missing?
