The web site listed below is used by banders doing research and may be considered the one to use. It is the only one we have used. It is from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center of the USGS. http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/manual/aspeclst.htm John Soltesz Pemberville, Ohio Wood County 6. Pickaway Co. Snowy, bird codes ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2006 20:00:58 -0500 From: The Reiners <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Pickaway Co. Snowy, bird codes Happy Old Year, All! I searched for the reported Snowy Owl northwest of Circleville this morning and, as others have experienced recently, had no luck. The outing was not in vain, however, as I saw numerous other raptors. The morning's list included: -American Kestrel - 5 -Red-tailed Hawk - 4-5 -Northern Harrier - 4, including one hunting male that flushed up a rabbit, doubled back on it, then apparently decided it was either too quick or too large and flew on -Great Blue Heron - 1, in the slough near the Commercial Point Road / Florence Chapel Road junction -Common Loon - 1, at the Island Road quarries closer to Circleville (presumably this species - its head was tucked in) On another note, does anyone have a good standardized list (or link to one) of four-letter bird codes (some apparently call them "alpha codes"). I have searched a bit on-line for such a list and have found several, but there are discrepancies between them! Especially useful would be one focused on birds of Ohio or eastern North America (so I don't have to wade through tinamous and such). Any suggestions would be useful, as I do find these codes easier to use in my field notes. Thanks! Eric Reiner Ashville, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ 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]