Thanks to Carole for the observations. She also mentions Wheaton's book on Ohio birds. It was widely praised by the big names in ornithology in its day, and is the first important Ohio work succeeding the professionalization of the discipline. Wheaton was very scrupulous, and his work covered everything that was known in 1882; it is of course of great historical interest, but is worth consulting for much more. This work is only part of the "Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio," which also contains extended coverage of mammals, reptiles and amphibians, and fishes. Because there are very few illustrations, you can usually find a rather cheap copy. It has also been scanned for the internet, at http://books.google.com/books?id=PYpIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA489&lpg=PA489&dq=Wheaton,+Birds+of+Ohio&source=bl&ots=LXnvMThxIF&sig=8xwyHqvcisRIRHmvMSTm-XKkZME&hl=en&ei=IvM-TIDBAoH6lwfG34XdCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCkQ6AEwBzgU#v=onepage&q=Wheaton%2C%20Birds%20of%20Ohio&f=false It seems harder to find recently, as Google, perhaps doing a bit of evil, seems to have pushed copies for sale up higher than readable ones; in fact, it didn't appear at all in a search for '"Report on the Birds of Ohio" Wheaton,' which is a shame. Fortunately all the older Ohio bird works---books or sections thereof by Wheaton, Jones, Dawson, Davie, Kirtland, etc., and journal articles by almost everyone else--can be found in searchable electronic form. If you have trouble finding something, write me and maybe I can give a URL. Finally, weary as I am of debating peregrines, I will mention that both the birds that made Ohio's first nesting were already banded and neither proved to be a wild bird; in fact, the band that could be read was of a Canadian bird (good, because only the Canadians insisted on releasing birds of the local subspecies, anatum) hacked in Alberta and released in Ontario. Of course humans did not, and probably could not, deliberately introduce peregrines into Toledo or any other city and expect them to remain, but the birds that ended up the hotel--at least the one determined, and probably both--had been artificially fostered and released. Could peregrine nests have gone from zero to 35 in a place like Ohio under natural circumstances just over the past forty years just because we have tall buildings? Is it responsible to talk about the status of Ohio peregrines without carefully considering the massive introduction project? Have trumpeter swans rediscovered their ancestral nesting grounds in Ohio over the past twenty years, or maxima Canada geese over the past sixty? As for other birds the authorities introduced here with the very best of intentions, I won't repeat the widely-known horror stories, but rather this from back in the day when even cowboy amateurs did so: shortly after a lengthier but ultimately unsuccessful introduction in Cincinnati (surely Ohio's center of introduced birds), another was initiated in Columbus, recorded thus: "'In the autumn of 1851, Mr. Bateham, on his return from England, brought a cage of the real English Skylarks, which, after keeping a few weeks at his residence, near the Lunatic Asylum, were set at liberty in the grove back of that institution. They very shortly disappeared entirely, and no doubt perished, either in the severe winter which followed, or by the hand of the fowler." Thank goodness, though at least larks wouldn't be eating the local birds...but they might still be around if they could. Bill Whan Columbus Carole Babyak wrote: > The first nesting of the Youngstown Peregrines showed them also > catching Cuckoo - both Yellow-billed and Black-billed. And no one > in the area was seeing Cuckoos - however the Mahoning River is > close and most of the riparian habitat is industrial and > inaccessible- so the habitants of the Mahoning Corridor are unknown. > The Warren Falcons are eating Pigeons again the Mahoning River is > near. > > I found an interesting old book: The Geological Survey of Ohio Vol IV > Zoology & Botany (Columbus State Printers, 1882) In it they > identify the Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter fuscus - common name Pigeon > Hawk, as well as the Merlin being called Pigeon Hawk!. The > Peregrine is called Duck Hawk and I quote "Not rare in Northern > and Northwestern Ohio, rare in the Middle, and not identified in > Southern Ohio. This large Hawk,...is not uncommon in the vicinity of > Cleveland, where is appears to be chiefly a migrant, and perhaps a > winter visitor. Mr. Dury, ...procured specimens from the St. Mary's > Reservoir, where it may possibly breed, as it has been found breeding > in corresponding latitudes in Illinois. In the vicinity of Columbus > it is rare. ... The nest of the Duck Hawk is usually placed in > nearly inaccessible places on rocks, sometimes in trees." J.M. > Wheaton, M.D. > > > A comment about House Sparrows, they are found in Northern North > Dakota in winter, around the big grain elevators and also in N. > cities such as Minot, where the norm can be -40 F with 40-70 mph > winds. - plus REAL BLIZZARDS. Don't know if this is just > survival skills or a measure of intelligence. Note: Starlings are > not present in N. ND in winter - survival skills or intelligence? > > Carole Babyak > ______________________________________________________________________ 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]