Scott-- NE Ohio red-shouldereds have suffered less than those in other areas from habitat destruction, shooting, etc. Back in 1903 Dawson regarded this species as second only to the kestrel in Ohio numbers. In 1902/3 the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology studied and collected these hawks here in Columbus's Clintonville neighborhood, which at the time was pretty much still countryside, but they remain over a century later, when dense housing predominates here (my neighborhood was built up in the '20s). The closest nest is reused yearly; our neighborhood is dissected by ravines with dense growths of mature hardwoods, and this nest is over 30 feet up in a big oak growing 15 feet from a house on the edge of one of these ravines, which has constant water flow. The birds are often heard calling in spring, and through the warm months have a habit of soaring high over the neighborhood in sunny afternoons. For a scientific study of urban Ohio red-shoulders, I recommend the work of some Cincinnati-area researchers: Dykstra, C.R., J.L. Hays, F.B. Daniel, and M. M. Simon. 2000. Nest site selection and productivity of suburban Red-shouldered Hawks in southern Ohio. Condor 102(2):401-408, online at http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v102n02/p0401-p0408.pdf . Bill Whan Columbus On 12/27/2012 7:38 PM, Scott Gregg wrote: > Scott Gregg > Beaver Falls, PA > > I've noticed over about a 15 year period of on-again, off-again observations > that the Youngstown/Warren area supports a pretty substantial red-shouldered > population. I have both seen and heard birds almost every time I'm in that > area. They seem to be non-migratory. In my area, Beaver County PA, they > nest in pockets in suburban areas. One nest I observed for a couple years > was in an oak on a limb that grew over a roof. Most field guides list this > bird as a bird of the deep woods. > ______________________________________________________________________ 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]