Recommended is a fascinating, very accessible, and image-rich overview of the history of the forests of the eastern US, introduced at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17913 First you'll see maps of forest cover in the east over the past 350 years. The full article, linked there, has other thought-provoking maps of albedo (relative reflectivity of sunlight, with all its consequences for weather, etc.) and percentage of old growth present at various intervals back to 1650 AD. It's worth thinking about what we know or can surmise about the effect of an invasive species (H. sapiens) on the native bird species of our region based on these studies. You can see how much the forest cover in your part of the state has changed over 350 years, and imagine how its bird life has changed. What have been the costs in numbers and diversity of native birds? Native forests moderated weather, but suburbs and agriculture encourage extreme weather. Old forests are very different from new ones. I'm gonna stop here; readers of this article will have many opportunities to think it over on their own. Check it out. 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]