Humans everywhere take over new territories, and these places tend to become inhospitable for native birds. This is an established pattern, and mostly unavoidable, as we are larger and more powerful, and wild animals don't matter much to us. Sure, we tell cute stories about wrens nesting in mailboxes, but when the territorial push comes to shove, we win. There are some examples of birds successfully adapting to our dominance. Birders who live on the seacoasts are seeing adaptations among seabirds in which large colonies of terns, gulls, and skimmers adopt roofs of buildings for roosting and nesting as humans crowd coastal settings. In Ohio, nest sites of black and common terns which once were fairly common are pretty much gone, but today's nesting gulls--herrings and ring-bills--have established colonies on urban flat roofs near the Lake, and even in a few industrial sites inland as far as the Ohio River. Raptors are a different story. Swallow-tailed kites were once common here, but probably a lack of nesting sites was the least of the reasons for their extirpation. Public servants, especially those who admire raptors as fellow hunters, have lately undertaken successful restoration projects to accompany legal protections for nesting falcons, bald eagles, kestrels, and ospreys, which are now present in good numbers, numbers that in some cases may rival those of days gone by. The smaller birds, as usual, are less often noticed or valued. Yes, there are supporters of efforts on behalf of bluebirds, hummingbirds, purple martins, etc.---mostly showy species that share our own home territories. Still, others show precipitous declines in numbers elsewhere. Just ask the oldest birder you know. Even starling numbers are in decline. Nesters can be neglected by listers looking for migrant birds of remote origin, but they are the ones for which we should feel extra responsibility. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]