An Atlaser who has a feeder in Masonville near Fort Collins has attracted Red Crossbills & Pine Siskins since June, but for the past 3 weeks, he has seen dead birds around his feeders. Mackenzie Goldthwait advised him to quit feeding for a couple of weeks and to bleach-wash the feeders.
Has anyone else seen this phenomenon lately? Crossbills have started using feeders around Franktown, though I haven't heard of mortality here. Doug Kibbe posited these thoughts. "I am wondering if the bark beetle outbreak is having far-reaching consequences on the feeding activities of the crossbills. As you know, their appearance at feeders in the East is as rare as chicken's teeth. But here in Colorado, they seem to be appearing at feeders with remarkable frequency. For the past two years, I have been noting red crossbills feeding on cones on dead pines. While this may provide them with food in the short-term, it is certainly a dead-end street. I predict that they will become a more frequent visitor to feeders nd that their population numbers will be depressed as millions of trees of cone-bearing age die." Hugh Kingery --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
