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April 2010

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From:
Nathaniel Nye <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Nathaniel Nye <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:14:19 -0400
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Hello birders,

I am curious whether anyone else has seen any very early cuckoos or other
migrants this year....here's why:

I recently reported a Yellow-billed Cuckoo which I saw at Tar Hollow State
Park on March 24, 2010.  I just finished writing up a report and submitting
it to the OBRC (if you'd like to read it, let me know off-list and I'll
email it).  As many of you are aware, this is extremely early for a cuckoo
in Ohio, and I'm wondering if this was an isolated phenomenon or whether
others have seen any early cuckoos (or other species).  The OBRC may not
accept my sighting (very understandably) because it was a very brief
sighting, I didn't see it with binoculars, and what I recall of its call was
not totally typical of either cuckoo.  Peterjohn gives April 21st as the
earliest accepted date for Y-b Cuckoo arrival in Ohio.  The earliest known
date for this species in Georgia is March 21st.  Nevertheless, I
(personally) am 100% sure it was a cuckoo, and 95% sure it was
Yellow-billed. There are several other reports in the U.S. of early
Yellow-billed Cuckoos this year, including one specimen found dead on the
beach at Salisbury, Massachusetts on 28 March 2010.  One was also reported
along the coast of New Jersey near the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal on 25
March 2010.

Furthermore, does anyone have any ideas about why a cuckoo would show up so
early this year?  One birder in Pennsylvania recently blogged about the very
early outbreak of tentworms in her area, which she states usually coincides
with cuckoo migration in early May (
http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2010/04/13/signs-of-spring-redbud/).  I also
saw my first tentworms of the year today (4/15), on a tree not far from my
house in Hilliard.  I hypothesized that maybe the early availability of
tentworms for food has led to cuckoos coming north early.  Any thoughts for
or against that idea, or any other ideas/observations?

Thanks and good birding,

Nate Nye
Hilliard, OH

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