Annual bird count documents population trends
Marshall Helmberger REGIONAL—Did you know that the wild turkey population in Minnesota has increased almost ten percent annually since 1979? Or that the evening grosbeak population has declined more than five percent a year, while purple finch numbers have dropped about 3.5 percent a year during that same period? If you’ve fed birds, or paid attention to their comings and goings over the years, you may well already have a sense that there aren’t as many evening grosbeaks as in years past. You may have even been surprised in recent years to see a small flock of turkeys picking insects al...