Each year, we get lots of posts of failures. Last year, 2023, was recognised as being a really poor season 'early on' due to extreme weather. 2024 seems a more 'typical' year???
I personally don't believe it's a terrible year for blue tits, in comparative terms. I can't see why it should be.
Reasons why we get seemingly more reports of nest box failures.
1) More nestbox cameras. Although some people do clean out nestboxes at the end of the season, and find at a later date that boxes they thought were successful may not have been afterall, others don't clean out boxes. Many in the past would have assumed nests succeeded when infact they hadn't.
2) More nestboxes. More nestboxes mean more nests, which means more nest failures. Statistics. It also means more inappropriately located nests (both in terms of being in the sun, or simply being in an area totally unsuitable for birds to breed).....and more competition with other blue tits. The public are lead to believe more and more nestboxes can only be a good thing........clearly common sense says that isn't the case.
3) More adults surviving over Winter to breed......and compete with other blue tits. Many less sturdy blue tits would have died in colder Winters. Many would have died if not living a life on supplementary bird food. Weaker adults = more nest failures.
4) More predators, in particular cats. I don't have the latest stats, but UK has huge numbers of cats.
5) Loss of habitat. Ash dieback is an example of a sudden loss of mature trees. Places for birds to both feed from but also take cover from predators.
6) Development. Linked to above, but also means less cover for small birds, more disturbance from humans, more sanctuary for generalist predators like magpies and great spotted woodpeckers.Loss of natural food supply.
Climate change, and mismatch of timing egg laying to subsequent food supply is clearly an issue that will grow......
However, I think we'll end up putting every year down to being a poor season if we just use nestbox failure reports as a guide.
for me I dont really mainly use things from this forum alone as a guide for things like breeding atempts and stuff I tend to prefer other ways or if I did decide to use it as a guide I wouldnt mostly rely the posts sent on the forum others might or might not be different.
not everyone nesacerily relys too much on things like nest boxes and bird food and other things or only does it for entertainment for example I dont feed the birds except from Autumn and winter anymore and I try to refrain from putting fat out except for Autumn and winter cause that is when they actualy need it but the thing is that there are other ways of feeding birds which is more natural like encouraging caterpillars or other food sources to encourage them to find food naturaly in the garden so it isnt nesacerily nesacery or the end of the world if there not fed suplementary food anyway
but conservation charitys like the RSPB in particular do emphasis the importanance of Feeding birds. while it is important if its to help birds amd not merely for entertainment then people need to think about when they need what the most and and what time of year food and when rather than just buying things they like.
they probably will take fat balls any time of year but the fat is more important in the colder months protein is more important during spring and summer. the RSPB also say that birds will come to rely on you if you pit out bird food and that you would have to keep doing it or they will stop coming but that isnt completely acurate
and then you also need to think about what species need help conservation wise rather than just feeding any birds thar cone into the garden. cause food can cause species to compete with one another for food sources and deter other birds. things like food and shelter can cause teritorial behaviour and competion and some species out compete others when it comes to things like food and shelter and there particularly teritorial during the spring and summer months. and will evventualy look for food to feed young ones aswell as themselfs.
nesting boxes not all nest boxes are the right size or even suitable for all species so again that depends on species you want to attract. and alot of nest boxes are mainly made for species like Robins great tits and blue tits or species that outcompete other species. while nest boxes can help some species it doesnt nesacerily help in the long run if you only encourage species that may out compete species that need more help than they do. conservation charitys put alot of importance on encourageing as many species as possible
but that isnt nesacrily helpful for conservation in the long term if you want to encourage the ones that can be detered by the ones that can out compete them so there is lots of factors to consider if and when you want to make nest boxes for birds for conservation. that and not all species use nest boxes so it isnt helpful for species that dont use them but conservation charitys dont really go into this much they mainly want people to encourage birds into garfens and tell them how and what to do rather than going into all the nesacery details like these aswell its mainly about attracting species to your garden in the hope that will help species that need help aswell instead
I missed one......or should I say, 7????
7) More and more people feed the birds. Feeders and communal feeding areas bring lots of birds to a small area, increasing the risk of disease transmission. Bird feeding used to be Winter only......
I agree, Zo.
Your points, my replies
1). has been on my list/radar since, um, over ten years ago. Someone I know ditched the nestcam because their partner couldn't face the very visual failures.
5). Ash dieback is relatively recent. Other large shrub/tree pathogens have arrived (been imported?) since before then, with their associated impacts. In some cases their control was fairly closely linked to the financial importance of commercial forestry, which is not necessarily a place where there's a lot of biodiversity.
counterpoint to 7 and 4). And one that possibly supports 6.
Magpies and woodpigeons are the main visitors to my current/recent (urban) garden. They provide occassional visual entertainment to my (house) cats.
Further on 7). Bird feeding also used to be providing unsuitable scraps. e.g. bacon rinds (with associated salt).
Agreed. I did state it was an example, to save listing. Dutch elm is another, but not so relevant to nestbox failures of 21st Century. Trends of doing away with gardens in preference of somewhere to park, or replacing gardens with 'gardens' reliant on power tools, or getting rid of high maintenance things like hedges and replacing with fence panels. Cutting down 'dangerous trees' is another aspect of life that has changed. List could go on.
Not sure you did counter points 4 and 7. Magpies are very alert and intelligent birds. Not sure I've ever seen or discovered, or even heard of a cat catching a magpie. I'm sure it does happen sometimes.....but compared other garden visitors, probably very few. Both they and pigeons are more than capable of carrying and transmitting disease.
Regarding magpies - and cats. I've known one cat that 'fished' a magpie's nest. Adult magpies specifically targetted that cat for ~ 2 breeding seasons after. I can't be sure, but I'd assume that the adult magpies that were harrassing one specific cat were the magpies that had their nest emptied. I've another anecdotal experience that might indicate magpies can distinguish between human individuals.
When it comes to disease transmission and mixed populations of birds there's the mixed flocks of tits (and finches) aggregating together during winter, aggregation of seabirds on cliffs for nesting (and we've seen the results in the past couple of years). The birds can do no.7 all by themselves. With a little help from intelligent monkeys. The original source of HPAI is disputed. Some suggest it arose and spead due to human actions (and inactions).
Dutch elm is a bit old now (but still applicable). Plant pathogens? I was thinking of Phytophthera ramorum. Still ongoing.
Yes, though feeding in trees is not as high risk as sharing a peanut, or seed perch.