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- In my area almost all of the birds are gone. Like, 90-95% or more. I live in a suburban moderately-wooded area, up until now birds of several different species were very common to see constantly. I usually fed them in the winter: it snowed for the first time a few days ago and I spread bird seed and filled the bird feeder as usual but three days later it was mostly undisturbed, and I have not seen any, not one single bird eating from it.
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- I visited some relatives yesterday that live in a rural area who also usually fed birds, and when I mentioned the lack of birds they said the same thing. It was common for them to see 15-20 different species of birds at their feeder every day, a dozen or more at any one time. Now it is rare that they see even one bird per day, and there’s only two different species they have seen in the last few weeks.
- I walked out early this morning during sunrise to get the newspaper and stopped and looked around for a few minutes and listened: we used to have birds everywhere making noise from every direction and flocks of crows passing overhead this time of day. In the space of about five minutes, all I heard was a single starling off somewhere I couldn’t see, and two crows flying by…
The effect is spotty. NPR news correspondents in Washington, DC said the crows there were almost entirely gone. Here in central Indiana, just a few hundred miles from you, crows are still everywhere, rising to pest status in their favorite rookeries. During the summer, a few dead crows in this county tested positive for WN. However, the spread was limited, perhaps by the vague dance of weather that regulates the mosquito population.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the WNV. Next summer, it could be much worse or much better.
Just to review, the virus is passed by mosquitoes. They bite an infected bird or mammal, then bite another, uninfected critter. The distance comes from the birds, who can fly a long way before dying. Crows are quite vulnerable to WN fever. In a mosquito-ridden area, the crows can be completely wiped out. Horses also get it, but they can be vaccinated. People can get it, and occasionally, it’s fatal. Human vaccines are not available. Our best bet is long sleeves and chemical mosquito repellants.
I am cautious, but not terrified.
–Nott
I’m in north central Iowa, and while we seem to have plenty of crows, pigeons and hawks, the smaller birds who used to come to my feeders are gone.
I used to fill the block feeder once a week in the spring and early summer, but this year I only used three, and the last one has been undisturbed for months.
I hope this means that there will be so much food left for the survivors that the population will bounce back quickly. I miss my birds.
I hope there are survivors. How bad did this get anyway?
West Nile is only one factor - bird populations rise and fall periodically for many reasons, not all of them fully understood. Here’s a site that provides more information than you probably want!
Paging brachyrhynchos…paging brachyrhynchos. It appears that we actually have a subject-matter expert amongst us.
My area has had West Nile for two years now. A lot of birds at the feeder so far. More than usual. Titmice, chickadees (2 species), an occasional nuthatch, the sparrows that aren’t in my Peterson’s, etc. A lot of ravens around the bird bath during the summer. Still have a family of Cardinals in the usual spot each summer. And hummers.
In terms of bird noise: a lot of “spring time” singing lately. Weird.
In Southern Ontario, crows and blue jays have been hard hit. Here’s a story about it from today’s paper.