I would agree entirely with Rob about my "patch" in Seattle, perhaps a lot more urban than where Rob lives. Species after species of migratory bird have declined or disappeared as breeders. The residents are definitely doing better. Hole nesters such as chickadees and woodpeckers and Bewick's Wrens perhaps are the best off, as they are not so subject to nest predation by crows and other critters as the cup nesters.

I have to add to that, however, that hole-nesting urban-typical House Sparrows and European Starlings are also less common than when we moved here 21 years ago.

It's an interesting contrast with southern Arizona, from which I just returned. There the urbanized areas have more birds than the surrounding desert, presumably because of the addition of water to the landscape and perhaps also because of reduced predator pressure in the urban/suburban setting.

Dennis

On May 31, 2012, at 10:14 AM, Rob Sandelin wrote:

> I have had the good fortune to live in the same habitat for 21 springs now. Over that time the dawn chorus has diminished greatly although the immediate habitat has stayed the same. It is still pretty rich and there are variety of birds but the overall volume and numbers are lower. Of course this is a totally subjective measurement, how loud and full the dawn chorus is but, like the frog chorus, it is much lower volume. The vireos are no longer here, the yellow warbler not heard in 4 years, black headed grosbeaks much fewer. No swallows at all this year. Most of the resident birds seem stable, towhees, chickadees, song sparrows it?s the migrants that have declined in my area.
>
> Rob Sandelin
> Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
> Snohomish County
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-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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