Quote Originally Posted by tigerlily View Post
Availablilty of food is not the trigger for bird migration. They get cues from the temperatures and the shorter days. My hummingbirds knew when to leave, even though there was food avaibable. But like Pam said, there are a ton of factors of why some birds hang around. I usually worry more about cats.
Great point about the cats, tigerlily. By far, outdoor cats are one of the leading cause (if not THE leading causing) for the decimation of songbirds. I remember a documentary that I think was filmed in England about the numbers of rodents, birds, etc that cats were killing and the numbers were astronomical. Too bad the cats don't go south and leave the birds alone.