JEFFERSON CITY-Ornithologist Andy Forbes has been getting lots of calls lately from excited bird-lovers. They report seeing droves of gaudy-colored birds in their back yards and at their birdfeeders. Forbes says the birds are not unusual, but their increased visibility is.

Forbes' job for the Missouri Department of Conservation includes identifying birds over the phone. This spring he has received an unusual number of calls about rose-breasted grosbeaks and Baltimore orioles.



"It has been a wacky year," said Forbes. "Up and down temperatures, leaf-out, a freeze that killed all the leaves, another leaf-out and then torrential rains. Birds' migration has definitely been affected."

Forbes said one effect of the freeze is that birds have been closer to the ground. This is because freezing was most severe in tree tops, where birds like orioles and grosbeaks spend lots of time foraging for food.

Another effect has been increased visibility through leafless trees. That has worked two ways, allowing people to see birds and allowing birds to see feeders on the ground, encouraging them to supplement their natural diet with offerings from humans.

Baltimore orioles have a taste for sweets - so much so that special nectar feeders are made for their use. Grosbeaks, which normally comb treetops in search of high-protein insect food at this time of year, have been resorting more often to backyard bird feeders.

"As a result, people are seeing them more," said Forbes. "It seems very unusual, and in a way, it is. It's not unusual that the birds are here, but they are unusually visible this year."

Forbes suggested that people keep feeders full and enjoy the show while it lasts. The birds' migratory habits will take most of them north within a few weeks.