Magpie's hit peak numbers in August here at Ken Caryl in JeffCo, too, when suddenly flocks of 30-75 birds are evident, often after a time post nesting when the species becomes rather less evident.
Two eBird graphs below show Magpie stats from the Denver/Arapahoe/Douglas/Jefferson four-county area. The top one shows "Average Count" with the high magpie numbers peaking at this time. The second one shows frequency of occurrence (% of total checklists), with a seasonal ebb for detection right when the highest numbers are found. Interesting. The pattern is: a dip in frequency of detection (found less often) directly after nesting, which overlaps with the highest counts for the species of the year. This suggests they have gathered into flocks at this time with numbers concentrated that way. Then after they probably disperse more evenly. David Suddjian Ken Caryl Valley Littleton, CO [image: Screenshot (734).png] [image: Screenshot (736).png] Here is the definition of the "Average Count" metric: Average Count: the average number of birds seen on checklists that detected the species, within a specified date range and region. This only incorporates checklists that reported the species (no zeros, unlike abundance), which tells us how many of a species we can expect to see where/when the species encountered. On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 1:57 PM Patrick O'Driscoll <[email protected]> wrote: > Hey Kevin -- > Here in east-central Denver, a mile SE of Denver City Park and 2 doors > down from East Colfax, we had a flock of 45 magpies foraging up and down my > block all day two weeks ago, and about 4 of them have continued to visit in > or around my yard since then. > I assume many of them came from City Park, where summer dozens of parents > and offspring (many big nests in old trees) have suddenly gone scarce. > > Meanwhile, the one or two Blue Jays that have visited my yard on and off > over the past month suddenly became 7 yesterday, and they and the magpies > spent a lot of time jockeying for my suet feeder, seed platform and peanut > wreath then and again today. > A regular pair of flickers, 3-6 chickadees, two collared doves and > several House Finches have paid their feeder visits whenever they can, > between scrums by the corvids. > > Speaking of which, we always have a few crows around; lately there's a > noisy early-morning meetup of 6-16 atop a tall cottonwood down the back > alley. > Come winter, we'll have hundreds flying west overhead near sunset, heading > for roosts close to and sometimes IN downtown. > And some days from winter into spring, I'll get as many as 30-40 right in > the yard earlier in the day, usually aiming for the peanuts. > > Patrick O'Driscoll > Denver, Hale neighborhood > > > On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 12:36 PM Mel Goff <[email protected]> wrote: > >> We have been having flocks of 30-75 Black-billed Magpies fly over our >> house every evening in the hour before sunset. One night we counted almost >> 100. We have also noticed that our neighborhood American Crows are not >> around right now. >> >> On a brighter note, we have a mob of Bushtits that descend on our suet, >> usually twice a day. Being as small as they are, they cannot go through a >> brick very quickly. >> >> Mel Goff >> Colorado Springs, El Paso County >> >> >> On 08/26/2023 11:39 AM MDT kevygudguy via Colorado Birds < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> Hello Fellow Birders, >> >> Paula Hansley's recent post about a flock of Bushtits chirping and >> chipping at her suet prompts me to report on a phenomenon I've not seen >> before in my little townhouse yard near Holly & Arapahoe in west Centennial. >> >> In the past month or so gangs of 30+ Black-billed Magpies and 24+ Blue >> Jays have taken over my yard, demolishing a brick of suet in an hour or >> less and terrorizing the smaller birds (except the male Broad-tailed >> Hummingbird who continues to patrol the hummer feeder and isn't afraid of >> anyone). I finally stopped putting out suet because it takes me a couple >> of hours to make a batch of 6 bricks and I was starting to feel like >> Sisyphus. >> >> I've had both species coming to my yard over the years, but never >> before in such large flocks. I'm also seeing them foraging in the lawns >> around here, I'm hoping they're looking for the Japanese Beetles & their >> grubs which have also shown up here in abundance this summer. Another >> interesting note is that the small murder of American Crows that usually is >> in the neighborhood has not been around lately. >> >> Keep Smilin', >> Kevin Corwin >> west Centennial, Arapahoe County >> >> Sent from my Remington Rand Typewriter via my Rotary Dial Wall Phone >> >> >> >> >> -- >> -- >> 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] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en >> * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. >> Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate >> * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Colorado Birds" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/1093551504.856189.1693071565761%40mail.yahoo.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/1093551504.856189.1693071565761%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. >> >> >> -- >> -- >> 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] >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en >> * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. >> Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate >> * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Colorado Birds" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/1844204570.28521.1693074983731%40connect.xfinity.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/1844204570.28521.1693074983731%40connect.xfinity.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > -- > 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] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAMNEzJNP1hvBaidcwjGwx6cHOoqO%3DcO%2Bj1JSsqm0DxLy99_mCg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAMNEzJNP1hvBaidcwjGwx6cHOoqO%3DcO%2Bj1JSsqm0DxLy99_mCg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- 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] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGj6RorDzv%3DNZoihuR%3Dbs4e600vJsk3%3DjY%2BLM-a9n_P66s9ctg%40mail.gmail.com.
