Hi Laura, When gathered in large flocks they actually strike me as being _more_ skittish; perhaps it's a compounding effect. Makes sense in a way. There may be no predator around at the moment, but they know that by concentrating at a rich food source in a landscape of scarcity they create a magnet for any predators in the area.
-Geo > On Jan 9, 2013, at 9:14 AM, Laura Stenzler <l...@cornell.edu> wrote: > >> Hi, >> This morning there was a flock of at least 100 Redpolls in the trees near >> our feeders. A few were at the feeders, but after sticking around for a few >> minutes they alldisappeared. Here’s a question – why would they leave a >> rich food source? Our feeders are full, there are 7 to choose from, and >> they clearly are happy when they decide to land. I’ve seen this happen >> before, when there is no obvious evidence (to me) of predators in the area. >> Other birds keep happily visiting the feeders – chickadees, woodpeckers, >> nuthatches, etc. There are other feeders at neighbors’ houses, close by. >> >> Any thoughts? >> L -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
