Where did my birds go?

[blindpig]

My house is in the middle of a wood lot and since I've been here(4 years) I've had 4 medium to large seed feeders put out. Until August I've had great success attracting a decent assortment of birds but in the past couple of months they have virtually disappeared. I've given all of the feeders a good scrubbing then refilled with the seed I had on hand. No luck. I got rid of the old seed and replaced with fresh stuff 2 weeks ago and still no luck. I't's way too quiet and I am bummed. Any ideas?

[semillama]

1. what part of the country are you in?

and do you have newly resident Coopers or sharp-shinned hawks?

[blindpig]

2. Upstate SC.

Haven't seen any lately. Have had those and Broad wings dining at my feeders on occasion. There are Coopers around but haven't seen them near the house. The rest are on vacation. Our little falcons stick to the pasture land. But I have heard a Screech Owl calling(previously rare)and Barred Owls are common around here.

Since I've changed the seed out I rarely see a Carolina Chickadee or Goldfinch at the feeders and that's all. Could the old seed have been tainted?

[semillama]

3. Maybe.

is there a chance there is a residue from when you cleaned the feeders that is turning off the birds?

I don't know what to say. maybe there's some sort of predator about that you haven't noticed? new feral cats or something? Are there birds at neighboring feeders or nearby nature centers?

[blindpig]

4. no residue

I keep reptiles and am careful about that sort of thing. The old sunflower seed was kind of dusty and I did not clean the feeders after throwing out that old stuff. Didn't think scent would be an issue. Dunno.

The evil squirrels have nothing to do with the feeders either and are not seen nearly as much as previous when they were considerable pests.

I'm thinking about replacing one of the feeders to see what happens but hate to because of the expense.

Help!