As the current compiler for Columbus, I was struck by several features of this old count.  These were great observers, so the totals are probably what a good team could have expected to get if they had the run of the entire circle.  Many have already noted about the Red-headed Woodpeckers, so I won't belabor .
that difference other than to put it in the context of land changes.  My observations include:

-Large #s of 'hedgerow birds':  Bobwhites, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, Tree Sparrows, Juncos, Cardinals.  Much of Columbus' periphery then was made up of small farms, with large hedgerows of trees & bushes separating fields, not unlike some of the Amish areas today.  That's been totally changed, first by farm amalgamation, then by suburbanization.

-Small #s of feeder birds: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-br.Nuthatch, Goldfinch.   Some of these are forest birds that were restricted by the heavy deforestation of the period; today they're all boosted strongly by feeders in urban & suburban areas here.

-Missing species - No waterfowl, White-throated Sparrows, or House Sparrows.   Without knowing their route, it's hard to say what these misses mean; perhaps they didn't wish to count the imported Sparrows.  The lack of waterfowl probably means they had little or no open water, not to mention that extensive hunting probably made ducks wary back then.

-High Bluebirds & Kinglets - For a single team to see 13 Bluebirds or Kinglets would be fairly extraordinary today.  I don't know what habitats they visited to secure them, but it's good to see that Bluebirds were fairly abundant winter residents back then, even on cold days.

Rob Thorn

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