My post on that old CBC in town elicited a lot of replies, mostly off-list. I will pass along news and info about this species from well-informed correspondents: "Red-headed woodpeckers have increased markedly in Oak Openings Preserve Metropark since the Tornado came through in June 2010. Thinning of oak woodlands and burning of understories have also created favorable habitat. It was not too many years ago that you had to hunt for Red-headed woodpeckers on a Big Day (or any day for that matter) to make sure you got it on your list. This is clearly a big winter for them. Last year, few overwintered. Whether they stay or migrate south is likely driven by the acorn crop. My guess is that, in recent years, you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere in the state that's more productive for this great woodpecker species." This is an interesting reminder. It is possible that parklands can, if protected or just by chance, not support birds that might profit from natural events like fires, tornadoes, etc. Another correspondent mentioned: "Much of Columbus's periphery then was made up of small farms, with large hedgerows of trees & bushes separating fields, not unlike some of the Amish areas today. That's been totally changed, first by farm amalgamation, then by suburbanization." Finally, Peterjohn wrote (p.292 of 2001 edition): "Ideal Red-headed Woodpecker nesting habitats are fields with scattered open woodlots and telephone poles provide suitable cavities...[their] numbers increased rapidly after 1860, when open farmlands with numerous fencerows and small woodlots provided nearly ideal habitats." A real sleuth might be able to describe the landscape this CBC was enacted in; all I can venture to say is they had no lakes or rivers on their route! Bill Whan Cols ______________________________________________________________________ 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]