I got a lot of unexpected mail in which readers of this list noticed the large numbers of red-headed woodpeckers. I kind of expected folks would notice the heavyweights involved as counters. Anyway, as an explanation for such woodpecker numbers--pretty much across Ohio in those days--here is my account of the RHWP in my book on central Ohio birds...BW Red-headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus*. In Wheaton’s day and for decades thereafter this savanna-dweller was called far and away the county’s (and western Ohio’s) most abundant woodpecker, though often persecuted as a presumed agricultural pest. Later, Hicks (1935a:157) reported it continued to breed in every county in the state, pointing however to its decline versus other woodpecker species, and suggesting its abundance had perhaps been overestimated because it frequented areas near highways. With time, competition from introduced birds for nest cavities, increased removal of dead and decaying trees, creosote treatment of utility poles, and its warm-weather habits conducive to mortality via vehicles have taken their toll, and it is now scarce, especially as a nester, in the area. Trautman (2006:222) counted as many as 40 a day found as traffic roadkills during Ohio surveys during the ‘20s and ‘30s. Families prefer open woodlots with mature nut trees. Research in the region suggests these beleaguered birds may at times benefit from exotic suburban settings such as golf courses (Rodewald et al. 2005). In the warm months it is largely insectivorous, and Jasper (1873:2) wrote long ago that “[t]he girdled, or deadened timber, common among cornfields, is his favorite retreat, whence he sallies out to make his depredations.” Back in the days before dynamite was readily available, farmers were often content to let skeletal trees stand. Variable numbers of wintering birds, however, are closely related to the mast crop, and thus fluctuate periodically, though falling noticeably overall in recent decades. Trautman (1945, 1952) over ten years of winter surveys at Buckeye Lake, found 187 in five odd-numbered years and only one in the five even-numbered ones, likely due to biennial peak productions of nuts of local beech trees; he attributed their steadily falling overall numbers to habitat losses. The Columbus CBC of 1956 tallied 117, but all counts since 1965 have been in the single digits. Interestingly, the count of 1/2/1966 recorded none at all, while only 25 miles distant and but a week earlier the Buckeye Lake count had found 105 (WCB Vol 11, September 1966:39). Among migrants, movements—fewer than in days gone by—arrive in May and depart in September for the most part. Small and shrinking populations at county parks persist, aided in part by dead and dying trees allowed to stand, as well as living oaks and hickories. Specimen 6/3/1875 OSUM #843. ______________________________________________________________________ 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]