Paul, The fact that Pt. Pelee has at least 10 records (I think) is also of note. Are their birds coming from the east or the west? Michigan's first Fish Crows (pending MBRC acceptance) were from the SW corner of the state, so likely came from Indiana. I'm betting the first Fish Crow for Ohio will be in the eastern part of the state. Allen T. Chartier amazilia1(at)comcast.net Inkster, Michigan, USA ----- Original Message ----- From: "PAUL RODEWALD" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 5:32 PM Subject: [Ohio-birds] Putative Ohio Records (Fish Crow) Ohio Birders: I read with much interest Bill Whan's comments last week about the possible historical record of Fish Crow in Ohio. I wanted to add that Fish Crows are breeding closer to Ohio than many of us realize. The ongoing Indiana Breeding Bird Atlas has a couple records along the Ohio River in extreme southern Indiana. However, Fish Crows may reach Ohio more quickly from the east where there is now a Pennsylvania breeding record a mere 40 miles from Ohio! Hard to say how long it will take for them to reach Ohio, but Fish Crow are known to make 'jumps' in their breeding range with small populations sometimes turning up large distances from their previous range. You can get an excellent view of the westward expansion of the Fish Crow's breeding range by having a look at the Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas website: http://bird.atlasing.org/Atlas/PA/Main?cmd=stateSummary&theme=species&edition=current&species=fiscro By clicking on "View Previous Atlas Data" you can toggle between the Fish Crow breeding map for the current PA Breeding Bird Atlas and the map for PA's first Breeding Bird Atlas (completed in late1980s). In doing this, you'll see that the species has pushed westward toward Ohio by about 90 miles over the last 20-25 years. While you're at it, have a look at the breeding maps for Common Raven (recently rediscovered breeding in Ohio), which also shows a nice westward expansion in breeding range. And then, click on Yellow-rumped Warbler which has a confirmed breeding record in a PA block (right on) the Ohio border (Ashtabula County) on the east side of Pymatuning Reservoir! As far as I am aware, there is no confirmed breeding record of Yellow-rumped Warbler for Ohio. These and many other maps show some very interesting changes in PA, but the same can be said for the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II website. If you want to learn more about OBBA II, have a look at: http://www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/ Paul G. Rodewald Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II The Ohio State University ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 08:24:44 -0400 From: Bill Whan <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Putative Ohio species Well, when we start to recycle the bird-name abbreviation issue (Iknow of a completely unambiguous 29-character system for North AmericaI'm willing to share: it would be even shorter except for the pesky 'northern rough-winged swallow'), it's time to try something new. I read something the other daythat suggested a series of posts, I hope informative and interesting, about Ohio records that would, had theynot been forgotten, ignored, or disputed, have added new species to the state list. #1 is fish crow. On page 67 of"Birds of West Virginia. Bulletin #3 of the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station," by W. D.Doan, published in Morgantown in 1888, appears the following entry:"FISH CROW. Corvus ossifragus. Resident. Rare. I saw two Fish Crows on Blennerhassett Island October 2. They were flying over the island tothe Ohio side." In a quick look, this worklooks like a conscientious compilation of its time. One slightly whacky thing I found is its inclusion ofnorthern shrike and omission of loggerhead shrike. Fish crow has a firm placeon today's West Virginia list, for many more reasons than this report; George Hall acknowledges it, accompanied by a bit of skepticism, inhis "West Virginia Birds' (1983). Part of the reason Ohiodoesn't have this species on its list involves ID problems far more difficult than those regarding shrikes. Fishcrows are somewhat smaller than American crows, and there are some morphometric differences if you have the bird in hand. There aresome behavioral clues that might lead one to look more closely, but forthe most part one should rather listen more closely. Corvid expert Kevin McGowan has some excellent advice at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/FishCrow.htm Most authoritiesseem to agree this species is slowly extending its range inland via major watercourses, and Doan's report supports the idea of being extraalert for this bird along the Ohio River. More on other species later, 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]