Keep in mind that some of the alleged creagles and/or turkey vultures seen in northeast Ohio this time of year are simply crows. Large crows. *Very* large crows. Some might object that these crows have bare (unfeathered) heads. This is easily explained by noting that the birds may have severe infestations of feather mites, which cause the feathers on the head to fall off. (You've all seen cardinals with gray heads showing -- same idea.) The truly picky individuals among us might object that those bare heads on the large crows look pink. But this, too, is easily explained: with all that flying around without head feathers, the large crows have serious sunburns. And we all know that sunburned skin gets really pink, even bright red. What could be simpler? Thank goodness all this confusion will be eliminated in two days when the vultures -- oops, I mean buzzards -- arrive in Hinckley. -- Bill Heck ______________________________________________________________________ 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]