Many new species we could add to the Ohio list will not be all that difficult to notice, identify, and describe. But there is a rather embarrassing short list of eight other ones: long-overdue species that have probably occurred here, but just not been noticed because overlooked. The following are among the likelier new additions because they've been recorded in at least four of the six states/provinces surrounding Ohio. They are, additionally, overlookable because they resemble far more common Ohio species. Based on regional records, they easily could be among the most likely new additions to the state list, but they require preparation, alertness, and a second look. It might pay off to review their ID characteristics vs. those common look-alikes, because all may have already been in Ohio without being recognized or well documented. Here is a list; the ones I'm guessing have most often been missed are marked with asterisks. *NEOTROPICAL CORMORANT*: Records in Michigan, Ontario, and Kentucky. There are birds in Iowa and in Illinois right now. Obviously confusable with double-crested cormorants, with whom they associate, but study comparative size and plumages by season. *ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER*: Recorded in Michigan, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and West Virginia. Seen mostly as a fall wanderer, this one might easily be casually passed off as a great crested flycatcher, and has almost certainly been missed here on multiple occasions. The east coast has so many records that one wonders why none of them was noticed passing through here on the way from their southwestern haunts. *FISH CROW*: Recorded in all six of the neighboring states/provinces, this one is loooong overdue for the Ohio list; do enough of us stay alert for it, or know the salient characters to differentiate it from American crow? Voice is the best first clue. FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER: Recorded in Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Proven a fall wanderer, young birds, or old ones missing tail feathers, can easily be mistaken for eastern kingbirds, etc. GULL-BILLED TERN: Records in Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, even though this species generally prefers areas near the Atlantic and Gulf coasts; there are a number of unreliable old sight reports from Ohio, as there are for roseate tern. Study overall structure, bill color. BAND-TAILED PIGEON: Records in Michigan, Ontario, Indiana, and Kentucky, and unconfirmed old reports from Ohio; could easily be passed off as a rock pigeon in a quick glance, and may associate loosely with them. If you want to help add a new species to our state list, these are suggested as among the best candidates IF identified and well documented. They all pose ID or at least recognition problems of varying degrees, and that's probably at least part of the reason why they haven't been found. Right now Ohio looks like a donut-hole in the middle of the map of their vagrancy. 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]