Just to throw this out there...is it possible you are hearing blue-jays? I just came back from Florida and I saw plenty of red-shouldered hawks, but the only ones I "heard" were the jays mimicking them. They can be pretty convincing, too. Just food for thought? On Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 10:16 PM, rob thorn <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > The last few days I have found several calling Red-shouldered hawks in > different areas around Columbus. They include: > - calling bird in Dublin (Heather Glen) last Sunday > - calling bird in east Gahanna (Bryn Mawr Park) Wednesday > - calling pair around old nest in south Gahanna Wednesday > - calling bird in Worthington (Rush Creek Village) Thursday > Coinciding with other reports of the species being territorial (e.g see > Robert Evans' report from Muskingum Co.), I have to assume these are birds > that are trying to set up territories. While this is not so unusual in the > forested parts of eastern and southern Ohio, this species seems now quite > rare around Columbus. > > Could it be that they're more widespread, but are more secretive except > during this initial burst of territoriality? I had seen the south Gahanna > birds early last year, but not later in Spring. I thought the location too > suburban for nesting; now it appears that I was wrong. I have noted > calling birds in other locations in February and March in years past, like > Blendon Woods, Greenlawn cemetery, and Alum Creek Lake, where I have > difficulty finding them later in Spring. Perhaps they nest there as well, > maintaining a low profile the rest of the year. Maybe we don't recognize > the Red-shoulders in our midst because we don't hear them in later Spring, > and they don't perch out like Red-tails. > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > 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] > -- *Visit OPShots.net, Your Cyberhub to Cleveland Aviation and the World www.opshots.net* ______________________________________________________________________ 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]