Birds are gone

[4bonhoffer]

Grew up and have lived in the Midwest for most of my life. The lack of morning songbirds has really stood out this spring & summer. Used to be that you would never think about counting them because there would be so many. Now I can literally count them on one hand.

[marble falls]

1. No birds. No bugs. No small mammals.

[popsdenver]

57. Amen to that

same here in Denver........
when I was a kid here, (50's) there were tons of birds, and butterflys......you could go to any vacant lot and catch "HornyToads", go to any pond and catch tadpoles, frogs and crayfish.........

The other thing really obvious.......in the 70's, 80's, 90's we still got snows in the entire winter here in Denver, and even a 3-4' one a couple of times a winter......... The past three years, I haven't fired up the snow blower ONCE.......and rarely used it even back to 2000.......

Our front range is currently under RED FLAG Warnings, and they will last until October..............

[OC375]

2. Invasive Species

Humans. That’s the long and short of it. Modern human culture is at odds with Earth. There’s too many people.

[Dr. T]

34. I've come to believe that the human race is a cancer on this planet

and that the planet will purge itself. New life will emerge, just as it's been doing for millions of years, but we won't be part of it.

[Disaffected]

41. I have held that view for years.

It is an excellent analogy.

[mjvpi]

76. It definitely has the same spiritual integrity.

[Alliepoo]

63. Yes.

[Chipper Chat]

3. My Grandma was born on 1896

And she once told me that when she was a little girl more than half of the birds in her yard were red yellow, and blue. Black birds were a minority.

[Easterncedar]

4. The decline has been dramatic the past 10 years

No more dawn chorus, just struggling soloists here in Maine. .

[somethingshiny]

5. I'm also in the midwest

My garden in southwest Ohio is teeming with bees, butterflies and birds. I have more hummingbirds this year than ever before. A Carolina wren serenades me every day while I water the flowers and veg. Plenty of lightening bugs when the sun goes down.

[paleotn]

19. Same here in VT

Depends on where you are. Last time I visited the Midwest, Cedar Rapids Iowa, the mono culture, industrial AG as far as you can see was astounding. Seen it many times but it’s always a shock.

We don’t have that in northern New England so the ecosystems, though stressed , are generally intact. Seems nature is being squeezed into smaller, fragmented patches.

[Taylor Picker]

21. Similar here

I may be only 2-3 hours or so away from you in south-central Indiana, but we've also had more hummingbirds than ever, and we see bees, butterflies, eastern bluebirds, northern cardinals, robins, goldfinches, and more every day. We had a brown thrasher in our driveway a few weeks ago. Too many woodpeckers, of course.

[somethingshiny]

25. Love those gorgeous goldfinches!

I know my coneflowers, zinnias and other stuff would bloom more and look better if I'd deadhead, but I love watching them perch delicately on the stems to eat the seeds.
I prefer the appearance of my coleus when I pinch off the blooms to showcase the foliage, but the hummies and bumblebees are all over the flowers so I'm leaving them. Trying to accommodate those pollinators as much as possible!

[BumRushDaShow]

58. Since you mention it

Just a couple days ago, I spotted a goldfinch on my tall coneflowers. I got a clump from the PA Horticultural Society plant dividend back in 2018 and planted them for the butterflies but apparently the goldfinches love them too.

The earliest blooming ones were done and side shoots were starting to bloom, but these are thick stemmed perennials that are at least 4ft - 5ft or more tall, where the stems stay upright without a support, and could easily support the bird. It was a male who was carefully clinging to the stem plucking at the seed heads and going from flower to flower. Definitely brightened my day!

The next day he came back but then started fighting with a sparrow. I don't normally cut those back for more blooms as they seem to resprout along the stems anyway and they self-seed all over the place, so I'm constantly pulling seedlings out from where they don't belong!

[Bettie]

71. Small town in Iowa....

we have two bumblebee hives, lots of other bugs, plenty of birds, though not as many in our yard as we used to have since we had to take down most of the big Maple tree....it was dying.

Bats at night too.

[doc03]

6. I don't see any evidence of that, something is eating a lot of bird seed from

my feeder. They must have moved to Ohio.

[paleotn]

20. Gray squirrels

Along with crows, coyotes and ticks, they seem to be thriving in our modified landscape.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. People do tend to notice the birds not singing in August, because that's when most songbirds are getting ready to

migrate. They're not guarding territory or looking for mates anymore. Sorry if your spring was poor as well, but August is often a time when people are like "where'd all the songbirds go??"

[MLWR]

17. For some reason, it seems to be more noticeable this year.

The house finches, the mourning doves, the white-winged doves, the robins, the sparrows, the spotted towhees, the jays have all gone completely silent where I live.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. FWIW, that doesn't mean they're not there. Humans just aren't that great at noticing silent birds, even in urban areas.

[FeelingBlue]

29. Have you listened to...

An album called, “Lost Birds?” It’s a gorgeous elegy to the birds we have lost. Christopher Tin is the composer. I’m recommending it to everyone in this conversation.

[RandomNumbers]

67. All year I have noticed the lack of wood thrushes singing

in the woods behind my house.

It has been a sad year.

I have a lot of native plants so do see many birds (they love the insects that enjoy the native plants), but the diminishment of the wood thrush song is striking and depressing. (I've heard them on occasion this year ... but it is much less than previous years.)

[3825-87867]

8. Silent "Fall?"

May-be we just need more DDT in Republican Circles!

[mopinko]

9. west nile virus ran through my area in 01-02. corvids r still not back.

it wiped out the crows and the jays. a friend who is a letter carrier said her route was just littered w dead birds. i used to have a murder of 30-40 birds in my big tree on the regular. havent had a single 1 in my yard since.
they were starting to come back. i live down the block from a commuter train line. there r trees all along it. as of a couple yrs ago, they had slowly been occupying those trees, so i wd see the occasional pair doing honeymoon flights. this yr i havent seen a single 1.

[mwmisses4289]

10. There are still birds, bugs, small mammals where i live.

Singing birds are mostly sparrows, mocking birds and cardinals, bugs mostly mosquitos, raccoons, possums, and squirrels for the small mammals.

[Dave says]

43. We have a bamboo grove at our home

And a lake at the bottom of the cliff. It attracts tons of birds of all kinds every day. Also small mammals (make the owls happy), foxes, raccoons, coyote, deer, frogs, plentiful fish in the lake. It’s like a zoo here! And we’re a small enclave in the center of a small midwestern city.

I do notice a marked decline in insects, though. Eventually the songbirds will have to forage elsewhere.

And I acknowledge the problem elsewhere. Before moving here, I lamented the growing absence of songbirds and that’s just 2 hours east of where I live now. Definitely, the ecosphere is changing.

[SunSeeker]

11. Yes, it's horrifying.

[Sharma Dreihund]

12. Plant something they like?

Here we are the invasive humans, capable of cultivation and exploration. Let's actually love the earth and plant something the birds and pollinators like. Let's not so sculpture our gardens and yards that it pushes them off the plot. We can do it.

[hunter]

45. Guerrilla gardening.

Even if you have no land you can still plant something for the birds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_gardening

[mucifer]

73. I'm lucky enough to live in a part of Chicago where

The forest preserve is a mile from my home. Lots of volunteers there planting things to attract the birds.

[FakeNoose]

13. I think the summer heat is causing them to stay hidden, but the birds are still here

At least in Pennsylvania, they're still around. I find bird crap on my windshield almost every morning.

But joking aside, the songbirds will be more evident once things cool down a bit. July was spectacularly hot and dry however it's abating somewhat in August. Hoping we get rain soon.

[HeartsCanHope]

14. Put out a feeder and keep it stocked!

We have loads of songbirds every morning in Missouri.

[somethingshiny]

28. Yes

A birdbath full of fresh water and a bowl on the ground for the mammals is essential, especially in this heat!

[HeartsCanHope]

94. Should have remembered this in my post.

Thank you for mentioning water!

[Topomi]

15. Insects.

I never even put screens in this year. Windows open, lights on, not even a mosquito. Very few birds on my walk through woods and fields each day.

[Bluestocking]

16. The animals understand what is going on

They have all migrated to the blue states. I’ve got plenty of birds and mammals in my area. Also turtles and snakes.

[sinkingfeeling]

22. No butterflies.

[RandomNumbers]

68. Fewer. Not "no". But we are on the way.

I have a native area specifically for butterflies. Seeing many fewer this year.

On a happier note, at the moment it appears there are monarch eggs on almost every healthy milkweed plant. So there's that. But will migrators find enough food on their way south this year? Sigh.

[sinkingfeeling]

70. Good to hear. I remember being a kid in central Ohio and the fields were full of butterflies.

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

23. Robins stay here all winter

Here in the central section of the Peoples Republic of Maryland our winters have been almost devoid of snow for a decade or so. Some robins now spend the winter here instead of flying south as they did on a regular basis for most of my 77 years. In my childhood a harbinger of spring was awaiting the first robins that usually appeared in early April. Another reason for the year round presence of robins is the proliferation of Bradford and Cleveland pear trees that produce tons of small fruits that hang on the trees and are eaten by the robins during the winter.

So, if climate change is a hoax then what is causing all of these changes?

[I_UndergroundPanther]

83. My mom

Used to wake me up as a kid with the line “wake up honey the birds are singing!”

When I was really little I argued with my mom a robin was really an orange crow.

And all the time she was alive we kept our eyes peeled to be the one to see the first robin of the year. (It came with bragging rights if you saw the bird first)

[Tbear]

24. Last night at dusk I heard two screams.

Then, “Whooo-whooo.”
Owl. Got a rabbit is my guess.

[Diamond_Dog]

26. NE Ohio here. I still have plenty of birds in my backyard

Mostly robins, sparrows, and blue jays.

Mr. Diamond says he sees a lot fewer seagulls up at Lake Erie this summer when he goes out fishing.

[randr]

27. When I was a youngster in the 50's

The migrations made dark streaks in the sky all day. Several bands of birds flying at different altitudes went from horizon to horizon.

[EddieOnTheMesa]

30. Same Here

Numbers are down 90% here in the North West.
I find it very depressing and scary. Afraid it will get worse we are so screwed. You don’t have to be in a Coal Mine to notice.

[MuseRider]

31. Same here in Kansas.

I have been watching this for years.

We still have a few rabbits, this year the deer population is almost gone after last year when I had fawn and mamas all over the place. I have 0 birds on my big pond, O. No ducks or geese. I am usually here with my bird count book out and getting filled with marks of birds both in and out of the water.Not one flock since spring and they were here and gone. I have not even had any mice or rats in the barns. No coyotes....I could go on. It is so quiet out here.

I was looking at some older photos, not THAT old but within the last 10 years. I have not heard or seen a quail in probably 3 years. There have not been any birds really. My trees used to be full. No blue birds or robins or anything. The eagles still come for a short time but they do not come back and forth like they used to from the big lake in Lawrence. The Osprey were here for a very short time but there were not many. My trees are empty.

I could go on but it is so sad. It makes the reason I bought this place and built on it look silly. It was full of all kinds of critters...oh yeah I forgot. Where in the heck are the turtles? No snakes in my barns, none.

I am so glad I am getting old enough to not feel like I will miss much when I go. My life was filled with all the wonders we now never see or hear...not a peep out my windows. Only the sound of a truck on gravel as it rolls by, that is one scarce sound I do not mind being infrequent,

[Oneironaut]

32. It's because we're being gaslit that everything is ok, and, there's a collective delusion.

There has always been this level of bugs.

There has always been this level of forest fires and smoke.

The temperature is not increasing, and, the weather has always been this chaotic.

Storms are no worse than they were 40 years ago.

Nothing is wrong. Keep consuming!

[GusBob]

33. Upper upper Midwest here

Durn birds are tearing up our feeders, dont have time to list all the species honestly

We did find one sick Falcon tho, the rehab folks said it had WNV


stinkin' freeloaders LOL

[Easterncedar]

35. See the Audubon song bird census

Numbers have plummeted. No amount of local anecdote insisting all is well can change the facts.

[MineralMan]

36. Hmm...I'm not seeing that at all.

What I am seeing, though, is a shift into the migration cycle.

I'm in the Twin Cities metro area in Minnesota, BTW.

This year was a banner year for red-wing blackbirds at our hanging feeder. Serious numbers of them - enough to piss off some neighbors who don't like the noisy birds. About a week ago, they just left. This year's offspring are fully fledged now, and the migration is coming up. so, these flock birds are gearing up for that. Right now, they're doing flock feeding somewhere out in some field. They're not coming to the feeder like they did during the spring and summer months.

So, our bird feed costs have gone way, way down. But, we have a whole new group of birds at the feeder now. The goldfinches are back. They migrate farther north during the summer, but pause at our feeder again in the early fall, before moving further south. Our brown thrashers are hanging around and this year's fledglings are in their full adult feathers. They don't migrate at all, so we'll continue to see them all winter.

The half dozen species of sparrows also winter over here, and they're busy at the feeder, too. Chickadees are darting around grabbing seeds when they can wedge themselves in among the larger birds. Jays are stopping in, too, as are the downy woodpeckers. Most of those other species weren't around much when the mob of blackbirds was heavy. Now, they're back, eating their fill.

Same cycle as last year, and the year before. There is always something to see at the feeder, even in the depths of winter.

[Chipper Chat]

77. I love my red-winged blackbirds.

They nest every spring in my lakefront cattails. My neighbors want me to cut the cattails down so their view of the lake is better but I won't do it.

[MineralMan]

99. Yes. My wife and I like them, too.

They're noisy and bratty to other birds, but they're fun.

This year, we were also lucky enough to have a pair of yellow-headed blackbirds show up at our feeder for a few days. I had never seen those before.

[Botany]

37. I used to see American Kestrels all the time along a stretch of railroad track north of my house and it has been 20 ....

….. years since I have seen one.



Btw I have been seeing far fewer native, pollinators, insects, reptiles, amphibians, song birds too. Plenty
of junk birds house sparrows, pigeons, starlings, and other non native birds too.

Btw this is the first year I didn’t see the little native cellophane bee that is a pollinator for the native alum root (Heuchera
richardsonii) I have in my garden.

[blue_jay]

56. Thanks for sharing the beautiful picture of this beautiful bird nt

[Rebl2]

38. We have

a variety of birds in our yard, but we also feed them. About the only time we don’t have them is when a hawk hangs out in our yard.

[hunter]

46. When I notice the birds in our yard have gone silent and disappeared...

... sometimes I'll go out and look in the trees.

More often than not I'll see a hawk.

[ForgedCrank]

39. In my area,

there is an abundance of wildlife of all kinds, including songbirds. Unlike 30 years ago, we are over-run with fox, pheasant, wild turkey, deer, the list is quite long. Even fishing has improved dramatically. Unfortunately, we also have a lot of coyotes now, something that I never saw even once when I was a kid.

[calimary]

40. This is scary.

Very scary.

[3catwoman3]

42. Greater Chicago area here, and our backyard is alive with birds , squirrels and rabbits.

We have sparrows, house finches, purple finches, chickadees, gold finches, robins, mourning doves, downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, redwing blackbirds, grackles, starlings and cardinals. Also a hummingbird feeder that has one tiny female visitor - maybe 2, but she/they move so fast it's hard to tell if it's the same one every time.

We have a no waste feeder, a nyger seed feeder, and a suet feeder. as well as a birdbath. And, this year, we have mixed wildflowers that took forever to bloom, but are providing a riot of color.

And, a few weeks ago, while crossing our street on the way back home from visiting a neighbor, I was surprised by a fox standing right nest to the apron of her driveway.

[madwivoter]

44. West Central Wisconsin here

We noticed a decline in our area around July 25 - it coincided with the Canadian wildfire smoke that has been drifting into the state for the last couple of years.

I normally fill our two birdbaths several times a day, now I'm down to freshening them up in the morning and evening - but it's really not necessary. I make sure they're full of fresh water in case any of the birds decide to swing back through.

We're mostly missing the robins and orioles. The orioles were a sweet surprise this spring, they were nesting close by.

Still seeing plenty of finch, bluejays, and crows. We saw a morning dove at the bath yesterday morning.

Lots of hummingbirds and deer (who take advantage of getting a little drink at the birdbaths overnight). The turkey-borg hord is plentiful

Peeked out the back window last night and saw a baby deer nursing with her momma, very sweet.

I miss my dirty birdies!

[republianmushroom]

47. Yup, insecticides, rodenticide and herbicides.

Wild pigs with blue meat found in California, officials sound alarm
https://www.kxan.com/news/wild-pigs-with-blue-meat-found-in-california-officials-sound-alarm/

[catchnrelease]

64. Yes--all those poisons

Besides the rodenticide secondary poisoning of the predators, hawks, owls, mtn lion, etc. The rest of that stuff wipes out the insect populations that provide food for the birds. Even the seed eaters feed bugs to their chicks when they're nestlings. So the bird populations are starving to death.

I've had several 'discussions' on my front porch with the pesticide salesmen that come door to door here. (SoCal) They are SO persistant--oh this spray is organic, or it won't harm the butterflies, it just kills spiders. I say that I want the spiders, and everything else that's in my all native front yard. It's feeding the birds! Just last week I had to literally close the door on the guy that would not stop talking, trying to sell me on his product. I had already repeated several times that I was not interested and I want the insects to be out there! Argh!!

[bif]

48. No shortage here in suburban Detroit.

It's business as usual. Actually there are more butterflies than usual this summer.

[justaprogressive]

49. Silent Spring.

[maxsolomon]

50. My sister lives in the country in SE Indiana

She has let her property return to nature rather than farm it. It sounds like a jungle most mornings and evenings.

My Dad lives in a Cincy suburb where there are endless acres of manicured lawn. The most common sound is mowing and overhead jets.

Nature can't thrive when there's nothing to eat.

[Bayard]

51. Our bird feeders were swarmed in the spring

Not much now. Tons of goldfinches, wrens, titmice, purple finches, cardinals, woodpeckers, bluejays, and a few mourning doves then. We put up new gourds for the swallows by the pond. They didn't go for them, and they usually have a couple broods. Not many hummers on the feeders.

Still have some deer, but not much since the 200 acres next door was sold to a developer, (heartbreaking for multiple reasons.) Still seeing a few, and some foxes on the trail cams. Been having a real problem with raccoons and possums. Trapped a bunch, but lost some chickens.

No more coyotes, thank goodness. Wondering if we could get some ducks again on the pond.

The big flower garden always attracts plenty of butterflies, but not as many this year. Saw only one Monarch, and we have both butterfly weed and milkweed.

Definitely not Nature's business as usual.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

52. I don't know about your weather

but here in western New York it's been really hot and humid and hasn't rained in what seems like months. Grass and other greenery is dry and brown. I've noticed less birds around on these awful hot days and imagine they're taking a siesta in the shade.

Usually though I've got lots of birds at my feeders and lots taking advantage of their water dishes!
It makes me laugh when a squirrel or bird comes to get a drink after another bird has just taken a bath! Ew!

[Wanderlust988]

53. Good. I noticed my car has been cleaner lately.

I honestly couldn't careless about birds.

[flamingdem]

54. I miss them

Titmouse, finches, sparrows, mockingbirds.

So few now. Lots of crows though.

[IbogaProject]

55. Even mix of house cats murdering lots of birds plus food declines

Pesticides and herbicides have lowered the food supply to these birds. I saw a paper about how much insect life have diminished over the time since the late 1980s, and hear stories about how many more bugs there were back in the 1950s. Rachel Carson wrote a book about it Silent Spring.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

84. I love cats

But I also love birds

Cat stays in the house goes out with me on a leash or in a cat backpack He will not go outside because he learned very early when the door knocks or opens he is to go to the bedroom until I call him back out.

Birds are safe in my yard.

[IbogaProject]

95. I love cats too, but don't let ours outside to murder.

They really are murderous they kill beyond any need for food. They especially like hunting birds.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

97. They are predators

Not murderers.

People who kill cats because they are predators are murderers.

Cats do what they are made to do you are pissed because they are good at what they do. Don’t blame cats blame evolution.

[LT Barclay]

59. Neo-nicotinic pesticides. Personally I think they are why people are so stupid and angry

[blue_jay]

60. As luck would have it, I have unintentionally been paying attention to our local wildlife

Last edited Wed Aug 13, 2025, 06:44 PM - Edit history (1)

and have watched as species are forced to move to smaller and smaller swaths of trees when their homes are clear cut for builders like DR Horton and see that remaining swath decimated kind of like when farm animals eat pastures. I also watch the change in wind patterns after the loss of those trees and the damage to the trees that used to be protected. Winds get gustier and more destructive since trees are not yet strengthened for the wind exposure and are damaged by the severe weather ups and downs and rains.

I also have been privy to watching a local green belt for the past half decade, season to season with changes in insect population and damage to trees from the varied weather of extreme heat, drought and extreme cold over the past several years. It has gone from being swarmed by mosquitos with at least a dozen squirrels (it's a relatively small greenbelt) and probably more bunnies to just a sighting here and there. I often hear the coyotes late at night when they catch their prey. Breaks my heart but I know it's the "circle of life".

The bird population seems less this year here. There used to be at least a hundred various species of chickadees and a decent amount of hummingbirds. The deep freeze killed some and the local "outdoor" cats (ostensibly for mouse control in these here parts) have likely killed quite a few. They killed (dept of ecology or something like that) off a bunch of barred owls and I have only seen one and possibly one owlet this year (still barred versus the native spotted). We also get some pine birds, towhees, flickers, sparrows, other woodpeckers, less stellar jays, possibly more crows, and only 1 eagle sighting.

The insect population is down too, have seen one yellow butterfly and 2-3 blue dragon flies. Many many less moths, more spiders, less flies, less mosquitos, more tiny flying insects and more spider this year. No ladybugs in sight the past 2 years, a few pill bugs, black beetles, occasional cricket, one frog, a couple earwigs, one or two marmorated stink bugs, one carpenter ant, a few bumble bees and wasps, I could go on but each is less than I've noticed in past years. I will be watching next year to see how the cycle goes from here. I'm sure it is different in all areas and microclimates. We can only share what we each observe where ever we are and try to deduce the bigger picture.

I for one, will do what I can control and keep planting more plants and flowers and covering bare ground where and when I can.

[BurnDoubt]

61. YEP. AND YEP.

When we did our garden we installed a fountain and the birds came. We spent hours mesmerized by their comings-and-goings and their antics.
Now, when I see a bird, or a butterfly, I call out to let people know, and feel like I should call the News.
"Silent Spring" Is a Thing!!!!!!!!
We have officially shit in our helmet.
Nice goin'.

[catchnrelease]

66. I've found that nothing attracts birds like moving water

I'd had feeders out and small bowls of water in the past, and there were some birds around. But several years ago I put up a home made 'fountain' that has a shallow dish for birds to bathe in. It was like in the movie Field of Dreams--if you build it they will come. Wow, did they ever. And I'm in suburban SoCal. In the Spring especially there are always new species coming through. Nothing like a mob of 12+ Bushtits all splashing at once. Or the local hummer trying to chase the bigger birds away from his spot.

[BurnDoubt]

74. We had that early on, but now, seriously, if twenty birds show up it's a celebration.

I live in Sacramento, and ag land is all around us. When I was a young driver, fifty orbits ago, we had to wash the car after a twenty-mile trip from Woodland to Sacramento because the car was literally plastered with insects. Now, you can count them on two hands.
"Silent Spring" is adjacent in our environs, and we're moving at break-neck speed to its conclusion.

[catchnrelease]

82. 100% right about the insects on the car

I do remember what you describe, driving out in the rural areas of the 5/101 or 395 years ago. Windshield covered in smashed bugs. I've driven those same roads frequently in the last, say 10 years and noticed it. Where are all of the insects??? I have no doubt it's because of the spraying of pesticides etc. Such a visible example of what's happening. But if you never experienced it in the past you wouldn't miss it now. Maybe not even believe it was like that.

I just try to keep my little patch of CA as welcoming to the natural inhabitants as I can, bugs and all.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

86. I remember riding with my

Sisters boyfriends on his motorcycle and the bugs bouncing off of us it kinda stung on bare skin and getting in our hair (no helmet laws yet) now there are no bugs when I ride with my friends on thier bikes now.

[Exp]

62. Any canaries? nt

[KT2000]

65. A woman on our local Nextdoor

posted a picture of an unusual insect she found in her home. There was a discussion of what it was, all innocuous, and her response was that she was going to hire a pest control company to spray her yard and home. We live in a rural area.
So much ignorance is killing us all.

[Tom Dyer]

69. I don't know how to post a song/video, but Dear Rachel Carson is worth the Intergoogles.

I’m a New Orleanian living in Panama. This song punched me in the gut. And the Katrina anniversary is coming up.
Thinking of all who were there.
We got this???❤️❤️❤️

[Nigrum Cattus]

72. bird decline - 2,900.000,000 see link below

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/

[LilElf70]

75. Birds and others

may have decreased in population. Skeeters remain forever........ At least it seems that way.

[Fresh_Start]

78. I'm hoping its not too late to turn around...plant native plants, eliminate pesticides, provide food and water

and maybe we can make a difference. My moment of recognition was June 2023...I had just refinished my pool...sitting outside and noticing there were no butterflies.

I had plants and flowers from front to back of property....but virtually no native plants.
Started after I recognized the problem...added 200+ native plants including milkweed...picked plants which were either butterfly hosts or provided food for birds...

Property is turning around...have definitely increased bird populations...but still only handful of butterflies each day.
But I knew it would take at least 3 years....to see improvement.

One thing that gives me hope is when I go to native plant nurseries....they have butterflies and caterpillers.
Of course, they've been doing it for years longer than I have....so it is possible.

[Ocelot II]

79. It's late summer; they don't sing much now. I've had a lot of birds on my feeders

all spring and summer, and the bird sanctuary near me was really noisy in May and June. I guess it must be a regional situation.

[FoxNewsSucks]

80. I travel KS & MO a lot

I've noticed that there are fewer birds. And far fewer insects.

In June, we were working around Salina, and one evening part of my group was out on the back porch of an AirBnB. There was a large number of songbirds and we sat listening for a while. Because it has become unusual. I remember 30 years ago being annoyed that if I left the windows open at night, the birds would wake me up early. Not any more.

A few years back, Thom Hartmann related a story from an OTR trucker that he'd noticed less need to clean his windshield. When I heard that discussion, I realized the same thing, but hadn't noticed it happen. In the 80's & 90's, there were many times that I not only had to clean the windshield at each fill-up, but stop once or twice between fill-ups just to clean the windshield. I remember once almost not making it to the exit because there were so many bugs the entire windshield of my car was coated. Not just a few splotches, but entirely coated.

Not any more. I rarely need to use the gas station squeegee these days. There are very few bugs.

Also, I hate those orb-weaver spiders. The ones that weave huge webs that can go from ground to overhead powerline and across the entire sidewalk. I had to keep watch for them when I take my dog for her after-dinner poop walk. 3-4 years ago, I noticed the spiders were gone. That same year, I also noticed the clouds of bugs which formerly swarmed every single streetlight were gone. Maybe 2-3 bugs per light remained.

Here, and other places, I think the birds and spiders are mostly gone for the simple reason that there is little for them to eat.

Humans have overbred and destroyed the environment. The planet will go on, but not with an environment that sustains life as we know it

[I_UndergroundPanther]

81. It bothers me too

Years ago flocks of birds would take like an hour to pass over your house during migration it was mostly starlings but…

I remember reading silent spring when I was young it scared the fuck out of me. The idea of no more birds .Now it’s happening and it’s not just dioxin.

Maybe saw 10 crows, two songbirds a lonely seagull a wren at a birdfeeder heard one bird singing yesterday while I was walking and just felt profoundly sad. These are the birds I have seen this summer so far. Birdsongs used to be like a background soundtrack during the summer.


And I remember waking up to birdsongs because summers were not this miserable and it cooled off at night so we slept with the windows open and this was in Maryland. We didn’t get an air conditioner until like 1978. The birds were so loud at the asscrack of dawn there was no sleeping.Add in my pet rooster crowing his heart out sleeping was hopeless.

[Ziggysmom]

85. Pollinators like bees are now scarce where I am in Wisconsin.

I miss seeing the big fuzzy bees dotted with pollen.

[Glamrock]

87. Sorry to hear....

Seems like much the same as usual in NW Indiana. Songbirds, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, possums, raccoons, groundhogs, hummingbirds, hawks(you can tell, it goes completely silent outside when they perch!) only thing I’ve noticed on the Indiana/Michigan border is less butterflies and lightning bugs.

[Trashman272]

89. Cats kill an estimated

1.4 to 3.7 billion birds every year in the U.S. Thats a big part of it.

[RandomNumbers]

100. "most of this (77%) is used for rearing livestock" - YEP

54 years after Diet for a Small Planet, humans are still eating too much meat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_for_a_Small_Planet

But that said ... (as you said) "8 fucking billion people" are going to cause problems even if all of us ate a lot less meat. We do too many other things that harm the ecosystem, and 8 fucking billion of us aren't going to all just stop doing stuff we like doing.

[FoxNewsSucks]

96. Is that something new?

Haven't cats always killed birds?

[William Gustafson]

90. Plant things that birds and bugs like....

Four years ago, after my wife passed, I started growing flowers. I have grown veggies all my life, but flowers has been a new thing to me...
Since then, I have seen more bugs, bees and birds than I have seen in years...
Being I'm a photographer, it give me a lot of pictures of flowers and insects through the summer. The Birds and Bats feed off the insects and nectar of the flowers along with the seeds that comes in the fall...
I hope this helps....

[pansypoo53219]

92. we have crap birds.

[Figarosmom]

93. Was likevthat for a couple years here.

There was a owl living in a giant hedge of yes next door and I think that's why. This year everything has returned. I like the birds and butterflies but hate the rodents and raccoons. I have a mole that I like too, he eats all the grubs and other bad bugs.

[punguin54]

98. People are earths parasites.

[underpants]

101. Birds aren't real.

One of my favorite made up conspiracy theories