Re: [Maine-birds] Re: Baltimore orioles

I wonder if "succession" is affecting areas where people have seen orioles in the past.  I know my yard used to have them in the spring but our little "hole in the woods" has grown up quite a bit and there is not as much "edge" as there used to be.  Other birds like Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Cedar Waxwing and Purple Finch have declined as cherries have been shaded out.

From my observations all of southern Maine is still in a very active process of change from the abandonment of farms decades ago with birds like thrashers, towhees and field sparrow  also less common due to habitat loss.  If it weren't for power lines these birds would be very hard to find and what appears to me to be a more severe herbiciding of powerlines in recent years has left little but junipers in those right of ways in recent years to the detriment of some of those species.  Our yard is now marginal for catbird and song sparrow as well.

Dan Nickerson
Freeport

On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 5:17 PM, Hank & Linda Nevins <fridge6@tidewater.net> wrote:

I'm really glad to see the subject of orioles brought up!  Five or so years ago I would have orioles in numbers at my orange feeder here in Bremen - they even nested at least once.  But I haven't had any since.  (And I had a dozen or more witnesses of those birds while we were working in my garage on the local plant sale.)  Haven't heard an oriole song in ages.  Are they perhaps what we call "local?"  I mean common in some areas and not present at all elsewhere. Thanks!

 

Linda Nevins   

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