Hi Bill and All,

Looking at eBird there is one report of Red Crossbill, from Oak Openings in
January.

Three reports of White-winged Crossbill. Montgomery(Dayton), 2 on 2-18,
Delaware, 5 on 2-19, and Bay Village, 4 on 2-20.

Interesting how these were found in similar numbers on consecutive days
moving south to north in roughly a straight line running SW to NE.

Haans


On Fri, Mar 17, 2017 at 9:55 AM, Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I'm curious to know if anyone has seen crossbills in Ohio this season. I
> don't recall any recorded reports from last winter, either. FYI below are
> central Ohio records taken from my book on the region's birds going way
> back...
> Bill Whan
>
> Red Crossbill   Loxia curvirostra.  Rare and seemingly more erratic than
> the following species, in cold weather, with a few interesting occurences
> in other seasons as well.  Wheaton wrote: “I saw a specimen said to have
> been taken in this vicinity in the winter of 1859-60,” and noted the
> acquisition, via Oliver Davie, of “a male shot with a pistol by C. Hinman
> from a flock of 8-10 in conifers in his Columbus garden” on the intriguing
> date of 18 June 1878 (Wheaton 1879:62), now OSUM #2162, which A. R.
> Phillips (tag data) identified as L. c. neogaea.  Three were at Green Lawn
> Cemetery 12/18/1925 with siskins (Thomas 1926).  OSUM #10234 is a
> window-kill, its crop filled with pine seeds, from 4/2/1964 (CD 4/20/1964)
> on Hamilton Road, which three different crossbill experts have identified
> variously as L. c. pusilla, L. c. benti, and L. c. neogaea on museum tags.
> Subsequent studies have found that differences in calls, rather than
> plumage and measurements, are more reliable in subspecies identifications.
> D. Borror taped a calling flock that grew to 15 at Blendon Woods
> 4/12-16/1970 (WCB 16:37).  E. S. Thomas observed one eating white pine
> seeds in Clintonville on the unexpected date of 8/27/1972 (WCB 18:24); 5-6
> were observed elsewhere in town that day (AB 27(1):70), with one seen the
> ensuing winter at a Clintonville birdbath on 2/24/1973.  There is another
> August record, from the 30th in 1985 (AB 40(1):123), and one from September
> on the 29th in 1979 (OC 2(3):26). Bent (237(1):512) gives an early normal
> arrival in Columbus of 10/11. Local reports come from ten months of the
> year.  More recently, in 2009 one was reported heard and seen on 3/28 in
> Hilliard (NAB 63(3):429) and another on 2/3 at Green Lawn Cemetery (fide G.
> Stauffer).  In 2012, the same location hosted at least seven on 11/26/2012
> (ph. I. Shulgina). Maximum 20 on 1/31/1976 (AFN 30(3):727).  A pair in Ross
> County in April 1973 (Thomson 1983:235) provided Ohio’s only confirmed
> nesting, which was apparently unsuccessful.
>
> White-winged Crossbill   Loxia leucoptera.  Seemingly unknown to our
> area’s nineteenth-century observers, but present in appreciable numbers
> here during occasional winter incursions from the north since, most
> recently in 2012-13.  At such times their flocks are partial to conifer
> seeds, both on the tree and the ground, as well as fruits of sweetgums.
> Groves of fruiting mature trees are preferred. One visited Green Lawn
> Cemetery 1/3/1920 (OSMSB 27), where 20+ were present 1/31/1976 (AB
> 30(3):727) and as many in certain later years. One was singing 2/5/1996 (OC
> 19(2):51), and two found 12/8/1997 (OC 21(2):49), an example of rarely-seen
> incursions in consecutive winters.  A late crossbill report came from
> 4/29/1981 (OC 4(1):37).  During the winter of 1963-64, 15 were tallied for
> the Columbus CBC, only the second record for the count; 62 were in hemlocks
> later on 1/19/1964, and Trautman reported one at Green Lawn Cemetery
> 2/16/64 (fide E. Thomas).  The county participated in a memorable statewide
> invasion of these birds in the winter of 2008-9, with numerous reports,
> mostly involving crossbills feeding on conifers, through the period; this
> incursion alone raised the number of Ohio CBCs having ever recorded this
> species from 21 to 27 (Troutman 2010), and Franklin County hosted at least
> 140 reported, when especially preferred were hemlock seeds in ornamental
> plantings (OC 32(2):84).  Fifteen at Green Lawn 11/8/2012 were the first
> seasonal arrivals (NAB 67(1):73), with 25-30 the next day, and similar
> sightings continued through February; 20+ were in a Clintonville back yard
> feeding on hemlocks obliviously at arm’s length away 1/21 that same year
> (pers. obs.). Specimen 1/15/1954 OSUM #9307.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
>
> Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
> Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/members
> hip.php.
> Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
>
>
> You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
> listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
> Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
>

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.


You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]