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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