Well, Jen, I suspect your treatise will tell it all, but here are some
remarks. Ohio lies on the eastern edge of a fairly broad spring
migration route for this high Arctic nester. Folks west of here, in
Indiana and Illinois, see them routinely. Interestingly, there are only
spotty records to the north, in places like Michigan, Wisconsin, South
Dakota, and Minnesota, even though increased vigilance is finding a few
more recently there. It could be that Smith's spend considerable time at
our latitude fueling up for a big jump high up into Canada.
        We know that only in the last 150 years or so have cornfields with
foxtail (these are both introduced plants here) existed in the Midwest.
So what did longspurs use for thousands of years before European
settlers bestowed these riches on them? Until they reach the breeding
grounds, they eat seeds. They seem to avoid forests (some say they even
avoid smaller fields with too many trees nearby). Ohio was mostly forest
not so long ago; there were prairies, however not so large or widespread
as those in Indiana and Illinois. So I would advise looking in areas in
the state where prairies existed. In Franklin County, this means the SW
portion, which is exactly where all our local Smith's records have
occurred: Seeds Road looks best to me, and flocks of hundreds have been
found there in the past. The two recent sites Jen mentioned---Mercer
County and Killdeer Plains--were prairie land in the old days.
        Farmers hate foxtail, and control it wherever they can. It's not all
that easy to find, and this time of year it often isn't yellow with foxy
seed-heads as it is in fall; it can turn quite gray, and lie prostrate.
You can see more of it in marginal farms in hilly country, but that
isn't land longspurs are used to--it's plowed forest country.
Organic and Amish farmers might tolerate foxtail, but there aren't many
of them, especially in those big open fertile areas where the
chemical-loving farmers crank out carloads of corn.
        Smiths longspurs have not been eating foxtail for millenia, either.
They like seeds, nourishing seeds they are used to, but any kind that's
nourishing. They have been known to relish tomato seeds.
They are fond of grasslands--that's why they've been found at airports
in Ohio and in the wintering grounds to the SW. There's probably not
much to eat in an otherwise promising-looking field of sprouting winter
wheat, though, even though plenty of food can be around that we can't see.
        They like big open spaces where they can see, so you need a large
expanse with vegetation that's not too thick or high. We like the same
thing, so we can find them. Jay Sheppard recommended the huge field of
short grass that lies between I-70 and US 40 and west of the village of
Lafayette (and also the county airport a bit west of that). This is
state property, and you can park at the empty gate along 40 and walk out
if you behave yourself. I've done this, but I haven't seen any longspurs
yet, but it sure looks like Oklahoma.
        Anyway, check out foxtail if you find it, but narrow your search:
        1. look in a primeval prairie area (you can use a map like that of "The
Original Vegetation of Ohio"
        2. choose a large area without a lot of roads, trees, powerlines, etc.,
especially traffic, flatter the better
        3. look for areas that haven't been been thoroughly laced with
herbicides, ones that have some birds like larks this time of year
        4. if there are row crops, get a vantage point where your line of sight
is parallel to the rows
        5. listen. If you don't know exactly what Smith's sounds like, at least
learn the basic longspur rattle
        6. look, and look again. learn where the white is on a flying longspur.
birds that are close will be less likely to walk around than those way
out there
        7. if you have a place that looks really good, be patient.
If you find some birds, let the rest of us know, but be careful to
think ahead about safety, etc. for visitors.
Looking forward to Jen's more complete guide, and comments from others,
Bill Whan
Columbus



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