Ned Keller is quite right about the trumpeter swan in Ohio. Authorities have accepted it to the Ohio list, based mostly on archaeological specimen material. Reports of sightings from long ago are just too iffy, but a record of a bird collected in the state in 1900 appears in the OBRC checklist as the most recent one, presumably based on the reputation of the reporter and consistencies with specimens taken nearby in Kentucky in the same era, even though the specimen is now lost. Helpful also are Bob Powell's remarks contrasting the lister's take on this topic versus that of scientists. As for the third-from-the-last paragraph in the ABA Checklist Committee link he offers http://www.aba.org/checklist/exotics.html , it seems reasonable for this committee to develop its own criteria for ABA listers, but for scientific purposes it will not likely supersede decisions made by local records committees and the AOU Check-list Committee. The ABA has been very involved in developing criteria for determining the status of exotic and introduced species, and its advice will be valuable. In Ohio, we will (through the OBRC) eventually be called upon to decide on the status of new species. Monk parakeet is an example. There are always a few of them around, reported from time to time. There are specimens in Ohio museums dating back decades. Both Indiana and Illinois have nesting colonies, and the records committees in both states have after consideration added it to their states lists. I don't know if the ABA committee disagrees about its inclusion on the Illinois list, based on its remarks on the Chicago colonies on the site referenced above. Anyway, if these exotic birds begin persistently nesting in Ohio, their status will have to be determined, and not just for the convenience of listers. The new OBRC Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ohio is just out: see Ned's post of 8 January here for details. As for trumpeter swan introductions, I invite those interested to read the voluminous material available at http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/swans.html ; most has already been published elsewhere, but this is a convenient collection of them. 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]