Few birds around since hurricane Ida...

[brent]

Hey Martintown33 and Thomabear (and all), I'm still seeing very few birds around since hurricane Ida. Black birds are few, no red birds, fewer Bluejays, not as many starlings and no house sparrows. I do have a few Eastern Bluebirds and some Purple Finches that visit the bird bath. My concern is that when the hawks start migrating the martins will be "sitting ducks". Are y'all seeing the same? At one point I thought I was seeing a come back but it's really quiet. Thoughts?
Brent

[Thomabear]

I’m seeing the same here Brent. In the last week or so I saw 1 Cardinal, 1 Bluejay, a few Starlings and 4-5 sparrows. I was able to trap 2 female sparrows. Unfortunately I saw a few hawks and just last night I heard an owl in the tree line about 500 feet behind my house. Maybe they are moving around in search of prey. Hopefully the scarcity of birds will encourage them to move on.

[Thomas Maddox]

Here in Sulphur, the population of the local birds seems the same, but I don't have empirical evidence to back it up. I'm really hoping that the PM population isn't decimated due to the freezes last year.

[Conrad Baker]

I know of a landlord (she lives in Garyville, La) lost over 100 birds. She said they were scattered all over her yard. Man down the street lost at least 25, and he said his neighbor had 15 dead, all crammed in one compartment. I lost 6 or 7, that were in one compartment. This was just four landlords (including me). I'm sure across the South, thousands were lost due to the freeze, either froze to death or starved from lack of insects. I still had a good season with nearly every compartment filled with nesting parents and fledgelings.

[Martintown33]

Hi Brent. I have basically ZERO birds since Ida here in Laplace. I used to have a backyard full of a great variety of birds, such as cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds, finches, crows, starlings, sparrows, and of course hawks. But they are ALL GONE.. I mean all of them are gone. I can go days without seeing a single bird. I wrote to the wildlife and fisheries several times about this. They have told me severe hurricanes can have a detrimental effect on birds habitat and food supply which causes them to leave. My main concern is when the martins arrive, the same forces that made all the other birds leave, will make the martins leave too. Let’s keep in touch on here about this issue, and see what we observe here in southeast Louisiana with our martins. I hope they don’t leave, like all the other birds, but I’m not feeling very positive about it. I hope I’m wrong!
Good luck,
Rob

[brent]

Wow, Rob. Today I actively looked for bird varieties. Saw only my Eastern Bluebirds, a couple of crows, maybe 3 starlings, a couple of Eastern Phoebes, a few small warblers, a couple of doves and that's it (didn't even see a Mockingbird). It seems like a lot but in the past it was teeming with birds of all sorts. We'll all stay connected and see how things end up. Good luck.
Brent

[Thomabear]

Rob, On the other side of the coin maybe the lack of birds including nest competitors may actually help the Martins. I’m hoping the hawks and owls move on to greener pastures due to the reduction in food from the loss of both birds and mammals. I can also see a scenario like Brent mentioned. If the predators don’t leave in search of food they could decimate the Martins as food will be scarce. I still believe the Martins will show up since they had migrated south prior to the hurricane. It’s what happens after is the question. If you look at the scout arrival map from the past couple of years you can see where Lake Charles did better following Hurricane Laura than they did in prior years. I guess all we can do is wait and keep our fingers crossed. 2022 is surely shaping up to be very interesting.

[Martintown33]

Hello Brent , thomabear, and all,
I agree that both of your scenarios are a possibility, and I do think this Martin season will be like no other, in my 22 years of Martin landlording. Here in southeastern Louisiana we are obviously all observing the same phenomenon. A great decrease in the bird population after hurricane Ida. This is confirmed by my communications with the SE La Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries. They have observed the same thing and have had many reports from others verifying the same thing we have observed. That most birds of all varieties have left the southeast LA Area.
I think either of your scenarios are very possible. I’m no avian expert but the way I see it, there are 3 possible scenarios:
1. The martins return as usual. They have an extremely successful season due to lack of competition from very few (if any) numbers of sparrows and starlings, and lack of predation from hawks. (This is thomabears possible scenario and would be awesome!)
2. This is brents possible scenario….The martins return as usual. Have a great season , until the few remaining hawks concentrate their attacks on the martins, since they are basically the only birds around.
3. Scenario 3 is the one I fear. The martins return as usual. They try to hang around as long as they can, due to their site and colony fidelity, but whatever natural forces that made all the other birds leave ( Lack of insects or whatever it is), force the martins to leave also. ( I hope and pray this doesn’t happen !)
But whatever happens, this will make for a very interesting year for sure. Thomabears remarks about the lake Charles area having a great year after the hurricanes they had, is very encouraging. Let’s hope that happens here too!
I’m very interested to hear what you 2 and others observe this season. Let’s keep in touch regularly …
Good luck to all and let’s hope for the best!
Rob

[Thomabear]

Agree 100% Rob, lots of moving pieces to this puzzle. I think that once the Martins return it will come down to insect availability as the main driving force of them staying. We can mitigate hawk/owl attacks to some extent but would surely loose some birds in that process. Definitely let’s stay in touch. Either way this year plays out, we will learn from it.

[Martintown33]

I agree thomabear. It will definitely come down to insect availability. If the insects rebound and are plentiful, this could make for a very successful year, due to lack of sparrows, starlings, and hawks. One of The La wildlife and fisheries communications I had, said they believe that if the mild winter we’re having so far, continues, the insects should rebound and make for a good Martin season. As we know, nature will do what what it will do. All we can do at this point is prepare, be ready and alert, and hope nature cooperates.
Good luck and keep in touch,
Rob

[Conrad Baker]

I know of a landlord (she lives in Garyville, La) lost over 100 birds. She said they were scattered all over her yard. Man down the street lost at least 25, and he said his neighbor had 15 dead, all crammed in one compartment. I lost 6 or 7, that were in one compartment. This was just four landlords (including me). I'm sure across the South, thousands were lost due to the freeze, either froze to death or starved from lack of insects. I still had a good season with nearly every compartment filled with nesting parents and fledgelings.

Sorry, I misread the title of the thread before I made my reply. I was thinking of the horrible freeze we had last year in February, not even thinking about Hurricane Ida. Plenty of damage throughout the South from Ida. I'm sure plenty of people that were affected are still living in temporary housing, or just getting back into their homes. I am wondering how many PM landlords were greatly affected , and if they are even in a position to put their PM housing back up.
As far as invasive birds (Sparrows and Starlings), I see plenty around my house, no less than what I am used to seeing. The sit on my fence every morning and evening as if they are waiting for me to put the martin houses back up.

[Thomabear]

I know of a landlord (she lives in Garyville, La) lost over 100 birds. She said they were scattered all over her yard. Man down the street lost at least 25, and he said his neighbor had 15 dead, all crammed in one compartment. I lost 6 or 7, that were in one compartment. This was just four landlords (including me). I'm sure across the South, thousands were lost due to the freeze, either froze to death or starved from lack of insects. I still had a good season with nearly every compartment filled with nesting parents and fledgelings.

Sorry, I misread the title of the thread before I made my reply. I was thinking of the horrible freeze we had last year in February, not even thinking about Hurricane Ida. Plenty of damage throughout the South from Ida. I'm sure plenty of people that were affected are still living in temporary housing, or just getting back into their homes. I am wondering how many PM landlords were greatly affected , and if they are even in a position to put their PM housing back up.
As far as invasive birds (Sparrows and Starlings), I see plenty around my house, no less than what I am used to seeing. The sit on my fence every morning and evening as if they are waiting for me to put the martin houses back up.

Good point Conrad, I was wondering the same thing. Many people are experiencing long waits to acquire contractors and some are wrestling with their insurance companies who only seek to collect premiums. The majority of folks have addressed what they could and are now waiting on the above. Hopefully they utilized this time to repair their martin houses. I was able to repair and actually add 24 compartments but I can't say for sure if others were able to do the same. I can only hope so.