Add to the Killdeer rooftop nesting location list, Adena Health Center, Chillicothe, May 10, 2007, if Dave Hess or others have not already mentioned the location. I've seen Killdeer nesting there in the past and I look for them routinely when I take my mother there for occasional appointments. I observed nesting this spring on the gravel rooftop of the NW wing of the physician's building viewed from the third floor balcony (eggs visible). I have observed behavior strongly suggesting nesting on the gravel roof of the PPG Industries distribution center on the south side of Chillicothe (Southern Avenue) as well, many times. I did not directly observe these PPG building nesting events from rooftop level, only from the ground, so I can't be sure of nesting attempts. Also, I observed this behavior in the early 1980's over the Kenworth truck manufacturing center near the Adena Health Center at the north edge of town. Tom Bain Glaciated Allegheny Plateau Ross County -----Original Message----- From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bill Whan Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 9:33 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [Ohio-birds] Rooftop nesters It would be interesting to hear how many others can join the Perchalskis in finding killdeers nesting on roofs. This behavior was described three-quarters of a century ago, but seems seldom reported in Ohio. Maybe the Atlas work will reveal more about it. Killdeers are in decline, but adaptability may be slowing their losses. A number of species that nest on cliffs, or on gravel bars or burned-over land, etc. can adapt to roof nesting. Opportunists like gulls do so as well. In Florida, where humans have co-opted so many of their breeding areas, least, gull-billed, and roseate terns, black skimmers, American oystercatchers, and even once in a while Wilson's plovers have taken to roofs. Some estimate the majority of the population of least terns in the Carolinas were born on roofs. An article recently appeared in the Florida Ornithological Society journal that pronounced tar-and-gravel roofs an endangered nesting habitat for least terns. Along the east coast, enormous numbers of nesting birds, forced off traditional nest sites, have made use of artificial reefs and dredge-spoil islands. These by-products of human activities are better than nothing for the more adaptable species, and we need to look at this use here in Ohio again, at least for water-loving birds. What the nighthawks (and to a lesser extent killdeers) are going to do when the gravel roofs are gone is a good question. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ 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]