Ohio birders must be delighted that fish crows have been--abruptly,
and in surprising large numbers--reported showing up here. The Ohio Bird
Records Committee got some documentations, including photos sound
recordings, about a number of birds seen along the Lakefront last
spring. Because this would be an unexpected appearance of a species  new
to the Ohio list, it is still being carefully considered, as will be
documentation on the reported nest.
        A lot of us have been expecting the expansion of fish crows' range to
include Ohio, and I was among the majority waiting for them to move up
along the Ohio River first. Others thought the Pennsylvania population
would edge up into SE Ohio. Evidently neither was to be. I wonder how
many US readers noticed the explosion of reports of fish crows on the
northern shores of Lake Erie this spring and last--before there was a
whisper about them in Ohio. Nesting was suspected last year near Pt.
Pelee.  We tend to ignore too many events in Ontario along the lake we
share, because (human) travel time makes these habitats seem farther
away than they really are, and also because the sport of listing is less
often international in scope. And maybe a bit of chauvinism, too.
        At any rate, for some reason fish crows in interesting numbers have
appeared over the past year on both sides of the Lake. No doubt there
are some other nests, and if they are not molested there will likely be
more. These are not rarities that may never be seen again, and crowds of
listers need not chase them around as they establish an urban nest. Only
in recent decades have large numbers of crow species begun to live in
cities; it's warmer there, and it's safer for an intelligent species
long singled out as game and pest in rural areas. Fish crows may be
following American crows for the same reasons, with climate warming to
assist them. Wouldn't it be a shame to delay their occupations by
putting too much pressure on the first inroads made by these intelligent
and wary birds, all for self-gratification? Pressure from human
observers would be a weird factor in studying their range expansion, no?
Bill Whan
Columbus

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