In my day job, I'm an archaeologist. While analyzing bones from an excavation at the nineteenth century Shaker community of Union Village (present day Otterbein Homes) in Warren County, a faunal specialist I work with identified a passerine humerus as most like that of the starling, but this bone came from a dirt cellar floor layer in a building that had been demolished and filled sometime in the 1890s.
Interestingly, there was an attempt in 1872-73 at starling introduction in Cincinnati, according to the Ohio Historical Society. http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1066&nm=European-Starling
I've always wondered if that bone indeed came from a starling and if that bird was one that had been released in Cincinnati. The bone was curated along with other artifacts with the Warren County Historical Society.
Andy Sewell
Columbus, Ohio
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Roger Troutman
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 8:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] More osprey nests, purple martins
Hello John and other list members,
The first Ohio CBC record for the Starling was 18 birds seen in Huron on
Christmas Day in 1921,
The first now Hamilton-Fairfield Starling record was made on 12/21/1930 with
37 birds being seen.
The next year this count tallied 2000 Starlings on 12/23/1931 which
consisted of 84% of the total number of individuals seen.
It is interesting to note that before 1930 only 7 records for crows, 1
record for Snow Buntings, 1 record for Starlings and
1 record for Lesser Scaup exceeded 2,000 birds of any species on an Ohio
CBC. Obviously Starlings became a dominate part
of our avian fauna soon after the first record was made in in 1916. The
first nesting record made was in 1920 about 5-10 miles away from me in
Richland County (Peterjohn 1989).. There were probably early unrecorded
nestings as the Huron CBC record of 18 was made in the following year.
Roger Troutman
On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 5:55 PM, John Habig <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I believe that the first Starling on the Hamilton-Fairfield CBC was
> recorded in 1925. Mike Busam may know the exact year.
>
> John Habig
> 261 Lantis Dr.
> Carlisle, Ohio 45005
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Andy Sewell
> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 5:02 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] More osprey nests, purple martins
>
> It's highly unlikely that the 1831 sighting was of European Starlings,
> as they were not successful introduced to North America until 1890.
> Perhaps it was not the physical appearance of the birds that so offended
> the author of the 1831 letter, but their association with Native
> Americans, as it was all the rage in the nineteenth century to disparage
> anything associated with Native Americans. Remember, at the time of the
> letter writer, there were still Shawnee in Ohio and Indian conflicts
> were still in living memory for some Ohioans! Perhaps in some distant
> time, a researcher will come across our modern disdain for starlings and
> House Sparrows, and scratch their head at our disgust for such handsome
> birds...
>
> Andy Sewell
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Al
> La Sala
> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 4:24 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] More osprey nests, purple martins
>
> I can't imagine anyone cursing purple martins. Martins are beautiful
> birds. Whoever wrote that article in an 1831 Columbus paper may have
> seen European Starlings going in and out of improperly cared for martin
> boxes.
>
>
> ---- Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > I've got expert confirmation of natural osprey nests in two more
> > counties: Trumbull and Summit. Clearly, these birds are settling in
> and
> > 'branching out' on their own. As for purple martins, the following
> > comments were included a letter to a local Columbus newspaper on
> > 9/22/1831: "I certainly do not know of any other way in which so much
> > additional beauty may be given to Columbus, as by merely taking down
> all
> > the martinboxes. The martin is a savage bird, beyond all question, and
>
> > to retain him among us may justly be compared as a badge of barbarism,
>
> > for we find that the Indians have always been fond of him." So there.
> > Bill Whan
> > Columbus
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________________
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> Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at
> www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
>
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______________________________________________________________________
Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.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.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.
You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]
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