Hello birders, I am curious whether anyone else has seen any very early cuckoos or other migrants this year....here's why: I recently reported a Yellow-billed Cuckoo which I saw at Tar Hollow State Park on March 24, 2010. I just finished writing up a report and submitting it to the OBRC (if you'd like to read it, let me know off-list and I'll email it). As many of you are aware, this is extremely early for a cuckoo in Ohio, and I'm wondering if this was an isolated phenomenon or whether others have seen any early cuckoos (or other species). The OBRC may not accept my sighting (very understandably) because it was a very brief sighting, I didn't see it with binoculars, and what I recall of its call was not totally typical of either cuckoo. Peterjohn gives April 21st as the earliest accepted date for Y-b Cuckoo arrival in Ohio. The earliest known date for this species in Georgia is March 21st. Nevertheless, I (personally) am 100% sure it was a cuckoo, and 95% sure it was Yellow-billed. There are several other reports in the U.S. of early Yellow-billed Cuckoos this year, including one specimen found dead on the beach at Salisbury, Massachusetts on 28 March 2010. One was also reported along the coast of New Jersey near the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal on 25 March 2010. Furthermore, does anyone have any ideas about why a cuckoo would show up so early this year? One birder in Pennsylvania recently blogged about the very early outbreak of tentworms in her area, which she states usually coincides with cuckoo migration in early May ( http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2010/04/13/signs-of-spring-redbud/). I also saw my first tentworms of the year today (4/15), on a tree not far from my house in Hilliard. I hypothesized that maybe the early availability of tentworms for food has led to cuckoos coming north early. Any thoughts for or against that idea, or any other ideas/observations? Thanks and good birding, Nate Nye Hilliard, OH ______________________________________________________________________ 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]