The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Coronavirus pandemic is truly for the birds
Sales of feeders, seed skyrocket during time at home
Early birds may get the worm, but the COVID-19 pandemic has helped feed more wild birds this year than since the 2008 stock market crash.
Jim Zipp, co-owner of the Fat Robin boutique birding store in Hamden, remembers having the same significant rise in birdseed and bird feeder sales he is experiencing now since the same sales phenomenon occurred during the 2008 stock market bust.
“A lot of people are spending more time at home. They realized they could make the best of their backyard and make it pleasant. It has been
busier at this time of year for us than in years past,” said Zipp.
“People seem to have more disposable income they are not using be
cause many are working from home, are not traveling, not going out to eat, not visiting movie theaters,” said Zipp’s son Ryan, an employee at the
Fat Robin.
That money has gone into backyard renovation projects, such as decks, fire pits, pools and sheds, therefore, homeowners start noticing birds and appreciate the distraction of bird watching, said Ryan Zipp.
More people also are hiking, walking and noticing nature, which piques the curiosity about birds.
Also, people who have been avid backyard bird watching enthusiasts before the COVID-19 pandemic usually stop feeding birds in the summer so birds can feed naturally but have continued buying seed in the
summer because they love seeing the birds while staying at home, said Ryan Zipp, who has had conversations with area garden centers that also realized an increase in sales of bird feeding items during the pandemic.
The nonprofit Connecticut Audubon Society Nature Store in Fairfield also has seen October 2020 sales of all bird-related merchandise skyrocket by 47 percent, officials said. The Nature Store is an ongoing fundraising tool that benefits the 150-acre Larsen Sanctuary in Fairfield, the Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center at Milford Point in Milford, and other conservation activities, said Tom Andersen, Connecticut Audubon Society communications director.
Bird seed sales at The Nature Shop are flying high.
“In March of 2020, sales were flat. In August 2020, with remote curbside pickup at the Burr Street parking lot, birdseed sales were up 17 percent from last year,” Anderson said.
“Starting in September 2020, sales were up 34 percent from September 2019. October 2020 showed a huge 213 percent increase from October 2019. All with remote pickup. Many people are working from home, they put up feeders and want to make sure they are filled,” Andersen said.
David Sibley’s “What Its Like To Be A Bird: From Flying To Nesting, Eating To Singing - What Birds Are Doing And Why” has become a bestseller at the Audubon Shop of Madison, said co-owner Jerry Connolly.
In business for 34 years, Connolly is having a record sales year in his birding shop.
“There have been new faces of people in the store, perhaps people that have never really looked at birds and now have a sudden interest in birds as a hobby,” he said.
“Customers that have been ordering 50 pounds of birdseed are now ordering 200 pounds of seed. My supplier of birdseed, a distributor in Ohio, is telling us that every week is a record week for birdseed sales for them,”
said Connolly.
Connolly, a frequent visitor to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, has been leading birding walks at the park for more than 32 years and has noticed an increase in people observing and photographing birds.
“Who just wants to sit in the house?” he said.
He mused that there may be more people purchasing photography equipment just to photograph birds and wildlife.
Milford Photo co-owner Jess Thompson of Milford agreed that bird and wildlife photography seems to be on the increase lately.
“We have sold an inordinate amount of telephoto lenses over the last year, especially in May and June. We had a number of Zoom events on birding photography that have been very popular. More people with cameras can stop and the smell the roses next to the bird feeder,” said Thompson.
While birds have benefited from the behavior changes brought by the pandemic, the human species also benefited from watching winged creatures, observers said.
“Bird watching is something I can do socially distanced, walking outside or through my kitchen window,” said lifelong birdwatcher Evan Atkins, 67, of Stamford, a college environmental biology major who
keeps a pair of binoculars in his kitchen to observe six bird feeders in his backyard.
“I have more accessible time and it's a great diversion. I walk locally around the neighborhood, the parks and trails including the Stamford Nature Center and the Bartlett Arboretum,” he said.
Atkins said he took an ornithology class in college and “whenever I see a bird or hear a bird, I can identify them because of my early education in college,”
He said he is always looking to add to his “life list” of bird identifications and keeps bird guidebooks on hand.
“One of the many joys of bird watching is pushing a stroller while babysitting my 1-year-old granddaughter. We get to see all the birdies and it’s fun to tell her their species names.”
Atkins also said he now “buy double the amount of birdseed so that it reduces my potential exposure to crowded locations because of Covid.
“The other thing I have noticed is that bird feeders and bird food were difficult to find early on. In the summer there was a shortage of anything related to the outdoors like fishing gear because outdoor activities are example of being driven by Covid-19 isolation,” said Atkins, also a Boy Scout adult leader and avid out
doorsman.
Atkins also noted that Covid-19’s forced isolation “has given us the opportunity to slow down and be mindful of the opportunities to take a few minutes, stand still, and see the nature that surrounds us.
“Bird watching is a real joy and a positive experience despite all of the negativity we have been going through with Covid,” Atkins said.
“Birding is a first step in understanding one’s environment and is a significant bridge to a deeper understanding of conservation issues,” observed The Audubon Shop of Madison’s Connolly.
A notable quote from David Attenborough says: “Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?”
Here’s to Covid-19 for at least one good thing.
An apropos quote from nature historian David Attenborough notes: “Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?”
“Birding is a first step in understanding one’s environment and is a significant bridge to a deeper understanding of conservation issues,” said The Audubon Shop of Madison’s Connolly.