Birders across the city reported seeing fewer starlings — and pretty much every other bird — during the 96th Christmas Bird Count. Dozens of bird lovers flocked together across the city on Boxing Day for the annual tally put on by the Hamilton Naturalists' Club, and noticed a consistent decrease in populations all around. "We might have close to the 30,000 we had last year as this trend continues, perhaps even less," said Rob Porter, head of field events with the Hamilton Naturalists' Club and Digital Naturalist. "It's a single snapshot in a single day of a single year," said Porter. "But there has definitely been a trend in fewer species every year for a while now." This year, the big surprise was a serious decline in Hamilton's starling (Sturnus vulgaris) population. The invasive species, which in the 1980s or 90s used to be tens of thousands strong here, has been in serious decline. "The flocks aren't really around anymore," said Porter, though the answer why is unclear.
Source: CBC, December 27, 2016
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/starling-flocks-are-disappearing…
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