Colorado’s Low Bird Numbers

story and photos by Scott Rashid

Last fall there were several wildfires in Colorado. One of the largest had burned more than 300 miles of forest and homes by the me it was extinguished.

We trap owls in the fall after dark. On several of those evenings, there was so much ash on our vehicles that they were all gray. There was smoke in the area for weeks, and at times it was so thick that was raining ash.

Western bluebird

Photo by Scott Rashid

During those weeks of smoke, many of us began noticing some strange things occurring within the natural world. One evening during the fires, we were able to see a line of fire that stretched as far as we could see - east-to-west along the horizon.

House finch at a feeder after a snowstorm

Photo by Scott Rashid

Normally, hummingbirds remain in Northern Colorado until late September, or early October. However, in 2020, hummingbirds moved south weeks earlier than normal, presumably due to the immense amounts of smoke that filled the skies.

There was so much ash from the fires that ash was continuously floating in the air for weeks. At one point there were several fires around Estes Park including one within the national park. One got so close to Estes Park that everyone in town had to be evacuated.

During the fires, and prior to being evacuated, my bird feeders were visited by large numbers of birds. Some species had never been seen in the yard before. Just before being evacuated we had large numbers of Pine Siskins, House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows, Cassin's Finches and Northern Flickers.

Birds that had arrived in the yard for the first time included White-throated Sparrows, Harris' Sparrows, a Brown Thrasher, and a Spotted Towhee.

Male Broad-Winged Hummingbird

Photo by Scott Rashid

A few days after we were evacuated snow fell and put the fires out. We were then able to return to our homes to see the fires did not get as close to Estes Park as we were told. It was put out before it reached the town.

Prior to Estes Park residents being evacuated, some rare species arrived at Lake Estes. These included a White-winged Scoter and a Herring Gull along with several dozen species of ducks.

Northern Flicker

Photo by Scott Rashid

In the winter of 2020 and spring 2021 we began noticing that the bird numbers seemed low. People from all over Estes Park began noticing the same thing. We normally go through a 40 lb. bag of sunflower seed every three weeks, quicker if we have the Rosy-finches in the area, as the finches consume several pounds of seeds per day when present. However, we had the same bag of bird seed from October until late February, because there are much fewer birds in the area to eat the seed.

Starting in January, it began to get very cold and snow fell throughout Northern Colorado. This continued until June. The large amounts of snow seemed to interrupt bird migration. With the low numbers of common birds seen, there were several species that normally migrate over the state to nest in the far north. However, many of these were forced to land in the state due to inclement weather.

Pine Siskin

Photo by Scott Rashid

As the storms arrived, more than a hundred Long-billed Curlews landed in a field near Longmont to refuel before moving north. In another location within the state several Hudsonian Godwits landed to refuel and in another location, several Sanderlings were seen refueling.

Now, the issue is low bird numbers, and fewer species being seen. This spring when bluebirds started arriving in Estes Park, it began snowing and continued for weeks. Bluebird arrived in early March as they normally do. After they arrived it began to snow and subsequently get cold. Either the Bluebirds moved to lower elevations or died off. Either way, bluebird numbers are very low in Estes Park and Rocky this summer.

Mul ple species are very low in numbers this year. These include Black-headed, Pine, and Evening Grosbeaks, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, all species of flycatchers, Cassin's Finches, Northern Saw-whet Owls, Boreal Owls, Swainson's and Hermit Thrushes, Gray Jays, and even species that use to be very common, including Pine Siskins, Pygmy Nuthatches, and House Finches.

Owls, like these Northern Saw-Whet owls, seem to be declining.

Photo by Scott Rashid

I have been birding the Pawnee Grasslands in Northeastern Colorado, for three decades. Birds including McCowan's Longspurs, Mountain Plovers, and Cassin's Sparrows are harder to find than normal due to their numbers being down.

When figuring mortality rates of birds, it has been said that roughly 90% of birds hatched in a given year will be dead by January the following year. Keeping this in mind, in order to get bird numbers to the levels that they were in 2020, it will take until 2030.

Bird mortality is caused by many factors, including being hit by automobiles, flying into windows, being attacked by cats, being poisoned, getting stuck in barbed wire fences, being stuck in buildings, starvation, loss of nesting habitat, and bad weather during both nesting and migration.

Nature is always resilient, when we give it some assistance. As long as we keep food and water out for the birds, both winter and summer, keep house cats inside, clean out nest boxes at the end of each nesting cycle, birds should come back in the numbers that we have come to expect.

Artist, researcher, bird rehabilitator, author, and director of a nonprofit are only a few things that describe Scott Rashid. Scott has been pain ng, illustrating and writing about birds for over 30 years. In 2011, Scott created the Colorado Avian Research and Rehabilitation Institute in Estes Park.

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