Diann M. wrote -
<<<<
> The corvid population,
> including crows and Steller's jays, has been the same all along. So has
> the neighborhood cat population :-( My feeling has been since I started
> noticing the decline about eight years ago, that it is a problem on the
> wintering grounds involving some of the same situations that have caused
> severe declines in some songbird species. Habitat destruction, etc. But
> there is definitely a decline in many areas. To add to this, there is a
> definite decline in the number of tanagers around this year (at this
> location).

My mother who lives in Tsawwassen south of Vancouver has noticed the same
falloff in swallow populations in her area. There used to be 3-4 Barn Swallow
pairs, 1-2 Violet-greens, and occasionally a Tree Swallow pair in the yard. As
the area became more developed over the past 15 years, the numbers dropped off.
During the past 3 years, the numbers have dwindled further, and this year no
swallow nested. I tried to blame the lack of Barn Swallows on the scarcity of
mud puddles on the property but I think this is grasping at straws. There is
likely a much wider-ranging cause. On the other hand, interior populations seem
to be stable.

As for tanagers, the central interior of BC has seen an explosion in Westerns
the past 3 years, so maybe the coastal birds have packed up and moved inland?



------------------
Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jbowling at direct.ca