Where have all the good birds gone?
January 13,2002

Where are the birds? the Woodland Dunes Nature Center phone rings steady.

Bird-feeding has become very popular and when time is spent and dollars are used, people hope to enjoy watching birds at feeders in their yards and close to their favorite window.

Birds could be absent from yards and feeders this year because so much natural food is available - exposed by the lack of snow cover. If this is true, birds should be more numerous in natural areas such as forests and meadows. However, the four winter bird counts in Manitowoc County did not indicate this!

Over 15,000 birds were identified and counted on the four days of the winter census. Most of the "top five species" were not feeder birds. The most numerous was the Canada Goose with 3,674 listed. This species was followed by herring gull, European starling, rock dove (pigeon) and house sparrow.

These species are birds that have adapted to our changing landscape- of our county and many others. Loss of habitat is usually said to be the dominant factor regarding the disappearance of many bird (and other animal and plant) species. By driving the same road, or route, each year one can readily see where habitat disappearance is obvious.

There were 25 participants in the four count areas this year. Four persons were active inn four of the counts.

Were the "feeder birds" more numerous in the forests and meadows? Not noticeably! In fact numbers were "down" in all areas. One other reason - less participants counted! The total number of species seen in Manitowoc County this year was 64. Compare this number with the Sturgeon Bay count of 73 species - and 55 participants!

One usually common northern species, the Tree Sparrow, was almost absent from most areas. "Winter Finches" such as evening grosbeak, red and white winged crossbill, redpoll and others were not seen.

Many times in mild winters, birds such as robin, red-winged blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, grackle and meadowlark usually remain in winter. Very few of those were seen - only two robins and one grackle.

Because of the lack of snow, birds were spread out more instead of being concentrated in feeding areas.

Harsh winter weather in northern Wisconsin and Canada usually move birds south. Not this year.

In past years the variety and numbers of duck species seen along the Lake Michigan areas has been higher.

Here at the nature center, it seems like business as usual. Many chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, nuthatches, woodpeckers, etc. are busy. One of the tree sparrows that is visiting and feeding here has a band on its leg and could have been banded here last year. This has yet to be proven