So I am a very casual bird watcher( I watch the birds flitting around and digging in the grass when I am out in my yard smoking). Normally in Spring there are at least 2 dozen types I see fairly regularly, with some others more occasionally.
But this year I am seeing almost entirely Robins. Probably 6 or 7 times more robins than all the other birds combined. Big fat ones. I’m not hearing much song variety either.
Here in SE Michigan we have had 2 hard, much colder than average, winters back to back. Is that likely to have had an effect on the others? Killing them off or driving them to look for something warmer? Or is it probably just a territorial thing, and my yard is now the turf for some big mean robin gang?
the cardinals were singing their fool heads off this morning, and I awoke to the “rat-tat-tat-tat” of an asshole woodpecker hammering away at the rain gutter on my building.
Tell us who else you’re used to seeing, and we might be able to offer better responses. (“Blue Jay numbers are currently in decline because of an increased use of KillALLTheThings ™ brand pesticide.”)
It’s not just Michigan - here in northern California, we’ve been seeing unusually large numbers of Robins in groups of hundreds at a time. And a relatively large number of Varied Thrushes too - a closely related bird - but nowhere near as many as the number of Robins. I have no idea what’s different about this year compared to last. Possibly availability of berries and bugs?
Not sure of either the cause or how widespread this is, but if anyone’s curious, looking on ebird may be helpful.