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February 2007

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From:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 2 Feb 2007 12:09:41 -0500
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        With some real winter weather coming up, I've been looking at some Ohio
winter bird records from the 1930s.  Lawrence Hicks was the foremost
authority of the day on our birdlife. He published "A Statistical Survey
of Ohio Winter Bird Life" in the Ohio Journal of Science in 1933 (it's
on the Web, along with most OJS material, at
https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/handle/1811/946  ).
        This article is an analysis of the first three decades of what we now
call Christmas Bird Counts, sponsored during the time by Bird Lore
magazine. Listing 133 species for these censuses, omitting a few others
whose identity was in question, he also includes a list of 29 others
recorded outside the Christmas season over the history of Ohio records.
He mentions some factors that lead to misleading estimations of the
numbers and variety of birds (examples: there are probably more screech
owls in Ohio in winter than kestrels, but they are harder to detect;
flocking species tend to be over-represented, as are species with loud,
frequent, and diagnostic vocalizations, etc.).
        Another confounding factor he mentions is historical changes in
populations of certain species. This part of the paper most interests us
today, in part because of the additional 75 years of history that have
passed. There follow some numbers, and interpretations he offers, that
may intrigue a reader in 2007.
        Here are the top ten species, in terms of numbers of individuals
reported, over the first 32 years of Ohio counts:
1. American crow (56,841 individuals reported)
2. American tree sparrow  (42,153)
3. European starling  (15,782)
4. Dark-eyed junco  (15,236)
5. Song sparrow  (8,119)
6. Northern cardinal (7,086)
7. Tufted titmouse  (6,776)
8. Northern bobwhite  (6,767)
9. Black-capped chickadee  (5,050)
10. White-breasted nuthatch (4,695)
        The crow as #1 (about one-fourth of all birds reported were crows) is
surprising to us today, especially since only 64.9% of these counts
reported any at all. The tree sparrow, reported on 91.5% of the counts
and constituting almost a fifth of all birds reported, ranks far higher
than today. That the starling should be only third is not so surprising,
since the first CBC report of an Ohio starling did not come until 1920.
A third surprise, though, is certainly the high rank of the bobwhite.
There were ten species with only one individual reported over these 32
years: white-winged scoter, vesper sparrow, orange-crowned warbler, pine
grosbeak, indigo bunting, golden eagle, Franklin's gull, brown thrasher,
peregrine falcon, and chipping sparrow.
        Here, from a modern compilation are Ohio's top ten species, in numbers
of individuals counted, for the entire period 1900-2005:
1. European starling (the number is close to 10 million now)
2. Ring-billed gull
3. Common grackle
4. House sparrow
5. Canada goose
6. American crow
7. Mallard
8. Herring gull
9. Bonaparte's gull
10. Mourning dove.
        I invite readers to contemplate these two lists. Why have large
water-loving species, for example, grown so much in numbers reported? As
for the old leaders, the tree sparrow is now #13, junco is #11, song
sparrow #18, cardinal #12, titmouse #23, bobwhite #44, black-capped
chickadee #28, and the nuthatch #30.
        Hicks had a special interest in Ohio's wintering birds, and published a
number of papers on the subject. I'll just mention one other, "An
annotated check list of all birds recorded in Ohio in winter," from an
Ohio Department of Agriculture Bulletin in 1935 (#2, pp. 59-66). Here he
briefly annotates 159 species he accepts to the Ohio winter list, and
without comment I offer below some selections that readers might find
interesting 72 years later. Most of his annotations remain accurate for
the present day, but these are thought-provoking.
Tundra swan---"Unknown in winter except along the Lake Erie shore of
northeastern Ohio during the winter of 1931-1932."
Canada goose---"Rather rare but winters regularly, especially in several
localities in W. and So. Ohio."
Greater scaup---"Should occur as a rare winter resident but has never
been positively identified."
Red-breasted merganser---"Very rare or accidental but may occur on open
water."
Northern harrier---"Everywhere common to abundant as a winter resident,
being exceeded in numbers only by the Sparrow Hawk. More generally
distributed in the western half of Ohio."
Peregrine falcon---"Quite rare in winter. More frequent in late January
following the first northward movement of waterfowl."
Gray partridge---"A common to very abundant resident in the northwestern
fourth of Ohio. Elsewhere rare or absent except for a few scattered groups."
Great black-backed gull---"Very rare winter visitor along the Lake Erie
shore and occasionally inland."
Bewick's wren---"Very rare or absent in northern Ohio, rare in central
Ohio and uncommon in southern Ohio. Local."
Brown thrasher---"Accidental. One individual wintered at Columbus,
1929-1930."
Northern mockingbird---"Very rare or absent in northern Ohio. Uncommon
to rare or absent in central Ohio. Rare to common in southern Ohio. Local."
Wood thrush---"Accidental. One individual wintered in Columbus in
1928-1929."
American pipit---"Absent in northern Ohio. Very rare in southern Ohio."
Northern cardinal---"Common to abundant resident, more common to the
south and uncommon to rare in parts of northeastern Ohio."
        I hope all this typing will inspire at least a few readers to think
these phenomena over and perhaps offer some interpretations for discussion.
Bill Whan
Columbus



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