In days gone by, the best time to look for Smith's longspurs in Ohio
was March and April; they were more rarely seen in fall. Still, because
they do not overwinter in their high Arctic breeding grounds, they must
pass north in spring if any are to appear in fall.
        Nearly all of their spring history in Ohio comes from Butler County and
in southwestern Franklin County and counties adjacent. Nearly all those
reports, some in the hundreds, came from a few observers familiar with
its migratory habitats in spring. Western Ohio seems to be the eastern
limit of its spring appearances in numbers.
        Many of its records along this eastern edge of its spring distribution
have come from airports, sod farms, and other expanses of short green
vegetation. There aren't all that many of these grassy habitats amid
those vast stretches of barren agricultural lands. Observers farther
west have learned to depend on these habitat types in spring, and we
should, too. They seem to have persisted in the same numbers till the
present day elsewhere, but possibly we are forgetting to look and listen
in the right places here.
Bill Whan
Columbus


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