Where have all the birds gone?

[bif]

I got into birding about 25 years ago. Back then I used to spot quite a few warblers in the springtime in my backyard (I live in the Detroit area). I haven't birded in several years, but i have noticed there are virtually no warblers anymore. None. I'm guessing loss of habitat up north. Does anyone know?

[CrispyQ]

1. We noticed incredibly fewer birds this winter & then I read it was one of the driest winters in 20+ years,

& sure enough, after it snowed a couple of weeks ago, birds came back. But overall, we are losing birds to habitat loss & climate change. We have a really small wildlife preserve with a pond nearby, & the number of birds compared to three decades ago when we first moved here, is startling when I think about it.

[GreenWave]

2. Sometimes it takes a while for the "word" to get out.

Chances are some are at a distance calculating the odds.

Now the crows land while I am at the backyard bistro.
And when that pesky squirrel comes around, the bluebirds buzz dive at its back end.

[WestMichRad]

3. Bird populations are markedly declining

https://www.audubon.org/press-room/us-bird-populations-continue-alarming-decline-new-report-finds

Climate change, habitat loss, pesticides, and more… lots of pressures on wild species of all sorts.

[PSPS]

4. We used to have lots of swallows every year, but none for many years now.

Apparently, swallows have largely gone away world wide.

[callous taoboy]

5. I had some swallows build a nest on my back porch for the first time in a long time this year.

They ended up with four chicks. It was fun to watch the daily feeding and the skimming
of water off the birdbath.

[hunter]

6. They are all at our house. We are fortunate.

My wife and I do a lot to make our yard attractive to birds and our home borders a city owned open space that has been much neglected.

Over the years people have been encouraging native plants to grow, replacing some of the horticultural atrocities that were planted when the area was originally developed. The irrigation system that was installed then has long since expired. It first fell into disrepair unused during a major drought and was never revived.

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. They're all in my backyard on Vancouver Island

Although I rarely see warblers, mainly because I don’t think they like the sunflower seeds and suet I put in my feeders.

But plenty of chickadees, juncos, house finches, sparrows, goldfinches, flickers, woodpeckers and in the nearby woods, owls.

And Of course the bald eagles and other raptors circle above looking for a meal.

Down by the shoreline, even more variety, with herons, gulls, oyster catchers and other shorebirds.

[bif]

8. We also used to have nighthawks

For years and years. I loved hearing them call well into the night. Haven't heard them in a couple years now.

[mucifer]

9. Lots of warblers in the forest preserves of Chicago and Cook County right now. But, there

might have been a lot more years ago.

Yesterday I witnessed 6 different kinds of warblers bathing at the Chicago River : Black poll, bay breasted, chestnut sided, yellow rump, Tennessee and Canada and I saw the Cedar Waxwings. So much fun.

I'm new to birding it's just my second spring. So I don't know what it was like 20 years ago. Back then I didn't care.