# West nile virus, bird populations, and bird calls

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-virus-bird-populations-and-bird-calls/128202>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 13, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-virus-bird-populations-and-bird-calls/128202 "2002-09-13T01:58:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-virus-bird-populations-and-bird-calls/128202/1 "2002-09-13T01:58:59Z")

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Dopers - in my suburb north of Chicago, ALL the crows have been decimated by the W.N. Virus. An Audubon count here last week found zero crows - remarkable since there are usually throngs of them. There are hardly any cardinals, few mourning doves, I haven’t heard a blue jay in weeks, and the sparrow population is very low. It’s eerily quiet in the mornings - just a few sparrows in the trees outside our house. And, I think - but I’m not at all sure - that the sparrow calls sound more like the ones we hear in the spring - more musical, more warbly. So, my question is this: is it possible that the low populations of sparrows is provoking spring mating songs? Or, is there really no difference in spring and fall songs (although it seems so). Am I actually hearing something different, and could it be related to the population problems? Birders?