I should also mention that Trichomonosis (parasite in songbirds spread by use of wet seed in feeders) had been a issue over the last couple of summers in our area. I read reports that it is now in decline as people took down their feeders in summer, so I don’t think this is the cause. If it is, it took down the whole population of a number of songbird species! I also haven’t heard reports of an increase in hawks, eagles, or other predators in the province. Any insight would be welcomed.

Wish I could give you an answer, but I can’t. But I have been complaining to my husband. A lot less hummingbirds this year. Usually the chimney swifts have two sets of young ones in our chimney. This year just one. Hardly noticed any birds migrating through here. We had at least two dozen goldfinches in Summer, currently I might see two or three at a time. I could go on with the list. I had not heard about the wet food issue, but I am very conscious about keeping the feeders clean and dump the food after a rain. Not filling them up all the way in the first place since the deer started emptying them every night.

Have you not read the recent report documenting an 80% decline in iinsects since the 1970s? That’s all you need to know. Most insects have coevolved with native plants to be highly species specific about which they eat and which they use for breeding. Fully 98% of birds feed their fledglings insects, regardless of whether they are otherwise herbivorous. With the disappearance of so many native plants in natural areas due to invasion of exotics like barberry and multiflora rose and oriental bittersweet - all that deer have so far left in my area - it makes us responsible for planting the missing natives in our gardens. Michaelangelo painted for God. We must plant for insects.

I need to issue a retraction of all the posts I have made actually recommending forsythia and pachysandra. We can’t afford ecological dead ends anymore.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Would a decline in insects cause a sudden disappearance of songbirds? Like, one day here, next day gone? I live on the coast and between me and the city is 25 km of woods. It’s pretty rural here and all natural habitat. Perhaps that is it, but it’s peculiar because it was so sudden. There’s not been one single songbird in months.

Look at the much bigger picture, if possible. Has there been traumatic weather events in recent months, not just in your vicinity but any where in the world that might effect the migration of the birds.

It must be very disconcerting to suddenly be without song birds.

I'm sure you are aware that you are surrounded by others, including experts, who are deeply concerned about the great loss of bird populations.

HERE is some interesting reading.

That is a good point. It was a cooler and wetter spring than normal. Maybe that has something to do with it. The birds were already back and nesting by the time this took place in July, and the chickadees, are here with us year round. I’ve emailed our Audubon Society, but haven’t heard back. It’s a mystery for sure!

Well that’s weird, I don’t know if I haven’t been very observant this year, but hardly any birds in my backyard In Ontario. Usually get juncos and finches, maybe too early? Also, cardinals and robins usually strip every last berry in my yard.

Have you contacted the Nova Scotia Bird Society?

Not saying this is the situation where you are, but sometimes birds of prey moving in make an area unattractive and take a toll on the bird population. We had a family of hawks move in at our old house. They were interesting and fun to watch, except for the part where they were eating all our little birds. At our new house we have both hawks and more often than before, some eagles that hang out in the tall pines at the back of the property. While we do still have songbirds, I don’t feed them anymore and don’t see as many because our bird feeder basically became a hawk feeder.

Well, I moved here a bit more than 25 years ago (5 acres). There was about nothing at all, so I have been planting for pollinators and birds ever since. I have seen a gradual shift since then in a good way. I haven‘t seen a housesparrow in 3 years, very few starlings. The bluebirds, native sparrows and finches took over. The bluebirds had a good Summer, I think one couple raised them on the sawfly larvae from my hibiscus alone. So it really was very sudden. Also didn’t see the big groups of robins coming through. We had a drought in September/ October. But still plenty of bugs. And more than enough seeds for the goldfinches.

Thank you for all of your thoughts, Houzzers! I know this is becoming a more common story with climate change, invasive species, wind farms, pollution, storms... but it’s how it seemed to occur so suddenly in the middle of summer-and so widespread-that strikes me as so bizarre. I did send the N.S. Bird Society an email about a week ago, but haven’t heard back from them. I’ll see if I can reach them by phone. If they tell me anything earth shattering, I’ll be sure to share it. Thanks again, everyone!

A housecat can decimate a local bird population. Any of your neighbors letting them out?

I highly doubt even a cat could completely wipe out a whole forest of birds or all the ones that migrate through. We have a bird feeder next door, and the only birds my cat has ever really caught are sparrows, maybe a fledgling a couple of times in a span of many years. We went to a bird rehabilitation centre a while back, and do you know what caused the injuries of the birds? Cars, buildings and guns.

This sudden disappearance coincides with a seasonal spraying of forests with pesticides (insecticides. herbicides, etc.) See: spraying forests with pesticides in nova scotia

Explanation: I am not saying that pesticides directly kill birds, they only destroy the birds food sources.

There’s a very good article on National Geographic (September 2019) explaining the dramatic decline in songbird numbers. Pesticides, glass collisions and house cats are major culprits. It’s heartbreaking to read.

It is not only heartbreaking. To those who understand all the complex relationships in Nature it means that we will be following other species soon.

Windberry, thanks for this article. I had no idea this spraying of pesticides was even happening. As you’d know, Roundup type pesticides are banned in Canada, but I guess that’s just for the average joe....?... This would definitely explain the sudden disappearance of the birds, and the timing is right. Too bad it’s not getting rid of the ticks, but that is a subject for another thread. I’m going to check into this spraying thing further.

Btaylor, the Nat Geo article was shocking too. Thank you everyone, for your help.

Thank you Windberry for sharing the articles, but thanks even more to the readers who were receptive. It’s often not easy to accept our responsibility for contributing to this crisis, even by doing nothing. I now believe strongly that we gardeners are on the front line. Just as bird watchers succeeded in stopping the slaughter of birds for women’s hats, we can have an impact. First step is to understand thst it’s not one thing. It’s very many things.

Glyphosate in Monsanto's herbicide VisionMax, most often used for spraying forests by forest "management " companies, will kill annual and perennial grasses, broad leaf weeds, trees and shrubs. Conifer species (softwood) will not be killed if sprayed when they are not actively growing. Hence the spraying is done later in the season.

Even if the herbicide doesn't directly kill birds and other forest dwellers, it is obvious that it will deprive them of their food sources. This can explain sudden disappearance of still remaining birds is the area.

But, of course, it’s not one thing only. Monoculture agriculture, widespread pesticide use, clear cutting, introducing invasive species to the wild, urbanization, pollution, all this is responsible for the steady decline of species. Scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plants, insects, birds and other animals become extinct every 24 hours.