We have no cicadas here (Novelty, Geauga Co.), but within a half mile of my house are probably six breeding pairs of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks and two breeding  pairs of Baltimore Orioles. I had thought that none of the Scarlet Tanagers or Indigo Buntings passing through had stayed nearby, but yesterday we had a Scarlet Tanager in a bush outside our front window and I saw a baby male Indigo about 1/3 mile away. 

My theory is that because the north winds made the birds late this year they went into silent nest-building mode almost right after they arrived.

> Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2016 16:20:45 -0500
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Question relating birds and cicadas
> To: [log in to unmask]
> 
> Often when we see a pair of birds, especially during migration time, repeatedly we assume they are the same pair.  And they may very well be.  But without tagging or marking them in some way it can't be said for sure that they are the same pair day after day.  You may have had multiple pairs moving through for several weeks on their way to finding and establishing a nesting territory.  Feeder count bird densities are often underestimated due to the observer assuming it is the same bird making repetitive visits.  So they may have wanted to be in the "thick" of the cicadas or they may instead have wanted to include that tall Cottonwood down the block in their territory or they may have moved further north.
> 
> Jim Tomko
> ---- Helen Ostermiller <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > We were particularly excited to have two pairs of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
> > and two Baltimore Orioles coming to our feeders this spring.  This lasted
> > for about 3 weeks; we were delighted to think they were nesting here.  But
> > now we haven't seen them for the past 2-3 weeks.  Today, though, I've been
> > hearing a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  If he's come to a feeder, I wasn't here
> > to see him.
> >
> > Although our small woodlot did have some emergent cicadas, we didn't have
> > enough for them to stick around, apparently.  The cicada drone we hear is
> > coming from a woodlot across a large mowed area perhaps a quarter mile from
> > us or across the highway to the north.
> >
> > I wonder if "our" grosbeaks and orioles have followed the cicadas to where
> > there's a concentration?  Has anyone else seen this kind of disappearance?
> > Of course, we'll never know if the birds would have stayed and nested.
> >
> > I'd appreciate others' observations and thoughts.
> >
> > Helen Ostermiller
> > southern Medina County in NE Ohio
> >
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