Today (Wednesday April 8) I was able to watch the Mountain Bluebird west of Toledo almost continuously from about 11:00 to 12:30. Much of this time it was far enough away that it required a telescope for good studies, as it ranged through the large open field west of 295 and Wilkins and along the fenceline of the airport east of the road. But it was seldom out of sight, and with its characteristic color and habit of perching up in the open, it was identifiable (at a superficial level) practically out to the limit of vision. This is the most highly migratory of the three species of bluebirds, nesting as far north as central Alaska and wintering as far south as the central plateau of Mexico, and it has a well-established history of wandering out of range. Although this is only the second Ohio record, there are many records in the east, even as far as the Atlantic Coast (and beyond the coast: one came aboard a ship 70 miles at sea off Massachusetts!), so its occurrence here is not entirely unexpected. Especially at the eastern limits of its breeding range, on the prairie provinces of Canada, Mountain Bluebird is known to interbreed fairly often with Eastern Bluebird. So with records out of range, there's always the question whether the bird is a "pure" Mountain Bluebird or possibly a hybrid or backcross. I went to look at the Toledo bird partly with this in mind, and I'm happy to say that this bird looks like "the real thing," a pure-blooded Mountain Bluebird. Color is the most immediately obvious I.D. point, but it's not the only one. In studying the Toledo bird, I was looking most closely at its shape. Mountain Bluebird has a distinctly thinner, longer-looking bill than the other two bluebird species. It usually doesn't look quite as large-headed or round-shouldered as the others. It also has distinctly longer wingtips and a longer tail. These give it a more stretched-out or elongated look while perched, and they also change its flight silhouette and flight action, making it look less compact, more graceful, more buoyant in the air. In parts of the southwest where all three bluebird species occur together, it's possible to pick out Mountain Bluebirds in flight overhead by their long, pointed wings, long tails, and graceful wing action. Voices differ as well, but in my experience Mountain Bluebirds call mainly when they're in flocks and tend to be silent at other times. I didn't hear a sound from the Toledo bird. I've seen specimens of Eastern X Mountain hybrids that were almost entirely blue but with intermediate structural characteristics and the wrong shading of blue in some areas. The Toledo bird has the right shades of blue and gray in all areas of its plumage. It appears to be, as Tom Kemp already suggested, a young male, in its second calendar year. In the field, the surest sign of its age is on the wings, where the innermost greater coverts are bright sky-blue and the outer ones are gray with narrow whitish edges. If it were a full adult, the greater coverts would be entirely sky-blue. The age also explains the tinges of gray on the head and underparts. Regardless, it's a gorgeous bird, and I hope it sticks around for many more birders to enjoy it. Kenn Kaufman Oak Harbor, 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]