My anecdotal impression in Arlington VA is that number of White-throated
Sparrows, Tufted Titmice, and Carolina Chickadees here seem fairly normal
*in good habitats*.
Couple additional thoughts, though. We still don't know everything there is
to know about how heavier snowfalls may impact regional movements and
population numbers of birds. We had some early and significant snows that
may have played a role in the numbers folks are seeing. Areas to the south
were hit significantly by the December storm that utterly skipped DC. And,
I still don't think Chickadee and Titmice numbers have necessarily fully
recovered from the devastating impact of the initial West Nile Virus
outbreak. My impression is we have seen partial but not full recovery.
Finally, the reports of declining insects are extremely worrying and I
agree with Marlene that we should be doing everything we can to help the
insects on which most songbirds rely, at least for successfully rearing
their young. Or making life easier for our winter visitors.
Cheers, Steve Young, Arlington
On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at 9:03 AM David Gibson via VA-bird <
va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Have folks in VA noticed a drop in numbers from previous years? According
to ebird,
https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/whtspa/trend-map-non-breeding,
the trend doesn't look good. I've seen almost zero on trips I've led.
Ironically, I had one bird in my yard this am. I also had a single bird in
Nov. All the above is highly unusual.
Dave Gibson
https://birdpartner.com/
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