Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
PUTTING YOUR OBSERVATIONS TO WORK
If you enjoy feeding birds,
consider joining Project FeederWatch at
www.feederwatch.org
and contributing observations of all your feeder birds. Your sight-
ings help scientists understand which changes at your feeders represent declines of birds
across large areas, and which ones may reflect normal changes in the abundance of birds
from one season to the next.
Q My grandmother in upstate New York has had bird feeders for as long as I can
remember. The first Evening Grosbeaks I ever saw were swarming all over her feed-
er. Now she says that the grosbeaks hardly ever come to her feeders any more, and
when they do, there are only a few. Are they becoming rarer than they used to be?
A
Yes, unfortunately. The decline has been documented by participants in Project Feed-
erWatch, which asks bird-watchers to count and report the number of birds they see at
their feeders during winter. FeederWatch data gathered between 1988 and 2006 showed
a 50 percent decline in the percentage of sites reporting Evening Grosbeaks. At locations
wherethegrosbeakswerestillbeingseen,averageflocksizehaddecreasedby27percent.
Thecauseisstillunknown,butdatafromFeederWatcharebringingmoreattentiontothis
worrisome decline and may eventually help us understand why it's happening.
