Date: 5/6/26 7:16 am From: Pam Hunt <biodiva63...> Subject: Re: [NHBirds] Why No Phoebes?
Bruce raises an interesting question. I feel like there are fewer phoebes
than there "should" be in my new digs in South Concord, and attribute it to
the weather this past winter. It was colder than usual, including a couple
of major chilling events, in the southern US where phoebes winter, and this
likely affected food supplies and/or survival. Other "half-hardy" species
like Winter Wren and Hermit Thrush are known to show population dips on the
breeding grounds in years following southern cold snaps, and I was
predicting fewer wrens this spring as a result. But wrens are secretive
little critters while phoebes are pervasive, and thus more likely to be
noticed in absentia.
Might not be the whole story, and there's certainly going to be spatial
variation in where declines are observed, but its as good a working
hypothesis as any.
Pam Hunt
Concord, NH
On Wed, May 6, 2026 at 9:24 AM 'Bruce Boyer' via NHBirds <
<nhbirds...> wrote:
> Ever since I’ve lived here (about 17 years), Phoebes have nested somewhere
> on my house, and I have heard other Phoebes calling in the neighborhood.
> This year, I thought I saw one, but since then, there have been no signs
> of Phoebes.
>
> I suspect that hawks ate them. Sitting out in the open on a branch, the
> way they do, would seem to make Phoebes easy targets.
>
> Bruce Boyer
> Jaffrey
>
> --
> To Change your e-mail delivery settings (digest, daily, no mail) visit:
> https://groups.google.com/group/nhbirds/subscribe?hl=en > ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "NHBirds" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to nhbirds+<unsubscribe...>
> To view this discussion visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nhbirds/<4F4308D9-D97D-46B6-93E1-F3F8860838EF...> > .
>
