Hi All:



I’m passing on this question from a non-birding colleague. She has a cousin
who lives out in the country who tells her it will be an early winter
“because the birds are flocking early” – I assume the cousin is referring to
blackbird flocks. I have seen a few larger flocks of blackbirds recently,
but chalked it up to normal post-breeding aggregation. So two questions: Is
there any connection between timing of flocking and the change of seasons,
and 2. Has anyone noticed that formation of blackbird flocks is in fact
significantly earlier this year?



My gut feeling, uninformed by any serious research but guided by basic
science, is that there is no connection between the timing of flocking and
the timing of cold weather (how would they know?), and that the formation of
blackbird flocks is on par compared to other years (although I admit to not
taking any particular notice of the phenomenon before).



Do any other Ohio birders have any thoughts on this?



Andy Sewell

Columbus, Ohio

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