They come and then they go. Some of my backyard birds, that is. Catbirds, for example. They sneak into my feeders around April, build their nests, have their babies, feed up and then leave. Interestingly, I saw a catbird just last week – a late traveler. Perhaps he wanted to see what the rain was going go do and where it would go, but he’s gone now.
And the hummingbirds. Typically, my backyard hummers arrive late – sometimes June and they almost always depart in early October. I haven’t seen them recently, but then I’ve been inside most of the time.
Starlings and grackles, my unwelcome backyard visitors, left in early summer, but they will be back in force come March when I have to switch to safflower seeds, which they don’t eat. That keeps most away.
Robins come and go throughout the year. They completely disappear, then are back in huge flocks the next week. I think they follow weather patterns and head where it’s the wettest and where bugs are easier to root out of the ground.
Fortunately, most of my backyard birds hang around all year – the bluebirds, titmice, finches, sparrows, doves, jays, crows, nuthatches, assorted woodpeckers, and others. They stay because in my backyard there is always water and always food.