RE: [cobirds] House Wrens: The most efficient backyard hunters around (Arapahoe)

I've heard that AG numbers are down all across the country.

 

Debbie Tyber

Breckenridge

 

From: 'Jim Tyler' via Colorado Birds <cobirds@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 23, 2024 7:02 PM
To: cobirds@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [cobirds] House Wrens: The most efficient backyard hunters around (Arapahoe)

 

Now this is interesting. Up through 5 or so years ago I had trouble keeping my thistle feeders full. I started seeing American Goldfinches first, followed relatively quickly by Lesser Goldfinches. Then the numbers of Goldfinches started dropping off, and for the past 2 years they refused to eat any thistle; it was all No Mess for them (split sunflower seeds and millet).

This year they started showing some interest in thistle again (yes, I can be rather pigheaded and kept one thistle feeder up as a "canary"), and the numbers were definitely up, so I started hanging my thistle feeders again.

I now have 4 thistle feeders up and they see constant attention throughout the day. I have Lesser Goldfinches, with only one or two American Goldfinches; running between 12 and 20 at a time.

So while I have no idea where the AGs have gone, I know where the LGs are :)

Jim Tyler
Roxborough

On 7/20/2024 6:55 PM, Tony Kay wrote:

Enjoyed your tales of backyard birding activity.  One of my observations in our area Denver S/E near Cherry Creek  shopping center are the changes in bird demographics. Spotted Towhees have been increasing year after year and are now permanent residents while American Goldfinch have become scarce. The Goldfinch population started falling off about 3 years ago and by last year there were very few around. This year I have only seen one at our feeder. The House Wrens are doing great, they love foraging in our thick undergrowth as with you the Chickadees are flourishing and all the locals seem to have had good healthy broods. 

 

What's happened to the Goldfinches?

 

Tony Kay

Denver

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 19, 2024, at 8:08 PM, Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso@gmail.com> wrote:



My backyard in Centennial (Arapahoe) is in shambles. Heat, drought, and insects have wildflowers falling in exhaustion. Blooms are misshapen, tiny, or absent. Plants are a third, sometimes half as tall as they were last year. The seeds of last year's six-foot tall sunflowers and Rocky Mountain Bee Plant have grown into 2-foot tall plants with unremarkable flowers. 

Amid all of this, families of birds are doing their family of bird things. Black-capped Chickadees and Spotted Towhees have doubled in number recently. A spotted and streak-faced robin is hunting like an adult.

One morning, two or three days ago, it was practically a Disney movie out there. A rabbit ran past a flicker pair, as the two woodpeckers bobbed their heads at each other from the edge of a wildflower. An adult towhee bathed in my bird bath as robins pulled earthworms from the ground. A squirrel pair chased each other. Chickadees raced around the honeylocust.

But it's the House Wrens that most impress me this time of year. A large family (6? 8?) has been inspecting every opening, corner, and edge for prey. Plunging into the tangles and darkness of stick piles, a Bagster full of yard waste, even overlap in garden fabric, they do their genus—Troglodytes*, the Cave Dwellers—proud. They're remarkably proficient. About as often as not, I see them with something in their bill. I've seen a moth for sure, but usually it's some indistinct blob to my eyes (I usually don't have my binoculars or camera with me).

I know we reserve the title of "Bird of Prey" for those who hunt larger fare, but there's not an eagle, hawk, or falcon as capable as a parent wren.

 

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

lonesomewhippoorwill.com

* Troglodytes is also something of an insult when applied to people. (The link here directs to Merriam-Webster.)

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