We find it not only varies from year to year but even across the year. When we first moved here we had lots of starlings, then we didn't see any for ages till this spring. From about June they disappeared and we haven't seen any since. Similarly with chaffinch, we haven't seen more than the odd one for the last few years. We have noticed an increase in blue ties and coal ties tho.
I was wondering if feeding a little more erratically may help. So don't immediately fill up feeders when empty etc. Birds would not have a constant supply in one location and would be forced to move around more. In winter we could feed a bit more and around now when the birds have gone elsewhere stop for a while. Bird numbers will always fluctuate and it is only us humans that worry that we don't 'see' certain birds.
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
I was wondering if feeding a little more erratically may help. So don't immediately fill up feeders when empty etc. Birds would not have a constant supply in one location and would be forced to move around more. In winter we could feed a bit more and around now when the birds have gone elsewhere stop for a while. Bird numbers will always fluctuate and it is only us humans that worry that we don't 'see' certain birds.
I don’t think the research is conclusive on what to do, but they were clear that it would depend on your location - eg inner cities where there is not enough natural food sources for birds to survive vs suburbia vs farmland and so on would be different
My thoughts are not to stop feeding completely as the birds have come to rely on you. In suburbia, numerous houses now have car parking instead of gardens because there's not enough space for more than one car per household. This has also leads to less birds visiting gardens. I will continue to feed them from when the bad weather starts again to give them a helping hand
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So don't immediately fill up feeders when empty etc.
Birds would not have a constant supply in one location and would be forced to move around more.
In winter we could feed a bit more and around now when the birds have gone elsewhere stop for a while.
Bird numbers will always fluctuate and it is only us humans that worry that we don't 'see' certain birds.