Devoted to the Study and Appreciation of Ohio’s Birdlife • Vol. 41, No. 3, Spring 2018 Thanks to his son Josh, Brad Davidson was able to see and photograph this “Lawrence’s” Warbler on 22 May at Roger’s Meadow in the North Chagrin MP in Cuyahoga. On the cover: Jacob Roalef captured this photo of a rare Black-throated Gray Warbler in Holmes on 19 Apr. This bird was the second of its species to be found in Ohio this spring. Vol. 41 No. 3 Devoted to the Study and Appreciation of Ohio’s Birdlife EDITOR OHIO BIRD RECORDS Craig Caldwell COMMITTEE 1270 W. Melrose Dr. Westlake, OH 44145 Jay G. Lehman 440-356-0494 Secretary [email protected] 7064 Shawnee Run Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45243 [email protected] PHOTO EDITOR Christopher Collins PAST PUBLISHERS 3560 Alvera Ct. Beavercreek, OH 45432 John Herman (1978–1980) [email protected] Edwin C. Pierce (1980–2008) LAYOUT PAST EDITORS Roger Lau John Herman (1978–1980) [email protected] Edwin C. Pierce (1980–1991) Thomas Kemp (1987–1991) Robert Harlan (1991–1996) Victor W. Fazio III (1996–1997) CONSULTANTS Bill Whan (1997–2008) Tim Colborn Andy Jones (2008–2010 Stephan Gleissberg Jill M. Russell (2010–2012) Rob Harlan Andy Jones Kent Miller Laura Peskin Bill Whan Brian Wulker And the 27 eBird county reviewers ISSN 1534-1666 The Ohio Cardinal, Spring 2018 COMMENTS ON THE SEASON By Craig Caldwell White-collared name is retired. Abnormal weather is the new normal. Mar’s It’s getting harder to keep track of early arriv- average temperature was well below the long al and late departure dates, though they appear term mean, coming in at the 35th percentile. Apr to be more and more common. An arrival date was even colder, the ninth coldest of the 124 which would have been very early 20 years ago years with data. But May reversed that trend: may now be becoming the new norm. Detailed the month’s average temperature was the highest research has shown earlier dates as a pattern ever, and the average minimum and maximum throughout the northern hemisphere and gener- temperatures were their second-highest. ally attributes them to climate change. Why some Mar’s rainfall was about average. A few spots individuals linger here later than usual on their had less than 90% of their usual, and some had northbound journey is probably due more to lo- up to triple the norm, but most of the state’s cal conditions and the “wiring” of each bird. amounts were between those extremes. Apr rain The season produced more than 1.3 million was well above average; statewide it ranked at eBird entries, about a 30% increase from a year number 103, with number 124 being the highest. ago. More than a quarter of them came from Lu- The far northwest got two to three inches (75 to cas and another 7% from Ottawa. 90% of normal) which increased across the state This issue of the Cardinal contains reports of to about eight inches in the southeast, up to tri- 313 species, tied with the spring of 2014 for the ple the usual. May’s rainfall statewide was almost season’s most during the OOS era. The species exactly at the long-term average. No part of the accounts also include eight hybrids, eight reports state received less than 90% of its usual amount, at the genus or family level, and four reports of though pockets received up to triple the usual. identifiable subspecies or morphs. This issue also Weather data are from the National Weather continues the streak of data from every county. Service (http://water.weather.gov/precip/), the Fifteen species were reported in all 88 counties NOAA (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and- and 14 were seen in 87. Thirty-six more species precip/maps.php and http://www.ncdc.noaa. were seen in at least 80. gov/extremes/records/), and the Plain Dealer. This season produced reports of a remarkable In the summer 2017 issue I published an arti- 31 review species; their names are underlined. cle by Arthur Forman, Sr., detailing how one of Sightings of 10 of them generated formal reports his backyard American Robins had attacked and to the OBRC, and most of the rest were posted to killed a snake. Arthur let me know that the event eBird or other media with photos or descriptions and citation have been added to the species’ ac- which will allow review. Two of the species with count in Birds of North America Online as one of the formal submissions also had posted reports from few documented records of such predation. other locations, and two sightings were posted The North American Classification Commit- with no supporting information. The OBRC and tee of the American Ornithological Society has this editor continue to urge birders to formally spoken, though only three of their decisions will report all sightings of Review List species, of affect the Ohio list. The sequence of species with- Core List species found at unusual times, of nest- in family Accipitridae (hawks, kites, and eagles) ing by birds previously not known to nest in the has changed. Our woodpeckers of genus Picoides state, and of course sightings of birds never be- become Dryobates, and their sequence has also fore found in Ohio. An easy-to-use on-line form changed. (Downy and Hairy are among them, is available at http://ohiobirds.org/rare-birds/ and it’s now known that they are not closest rela- report-a-rare-bird-sighting/. tives despite their very similar appearance.) Most Data for the following Species Accounts come of the sparrows of genus Ammodramus move into from reports submitted directly to The Cardinal two new genera and they too are shuffled. You’ll and The Bobolink (the latter courtesy of its pub- see these changes in the summer issue of the Car- lisher, Robert Hershberger), eBird (http://ebird. dinal. Outside our area, those of us who have seen org/content/ebird), and the Ohio-birds listserv a White-collared Seedeater (Sporophila torqueola) in (http://birding.aba.org/maillist/OH). In the south Texas have actually seen Morelet’s Seed- species accounts, “normal” departure and arrival eater (S. morelleti); it turns out that the original dates are from Harlan et al., Ohio Bird Records Com- specific epithet belongs to the split-off Mexican mittee Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Ohio, 2008. endemic Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater, and the Mentions of breeding locations are from Rode- 109 Vol. 41 No. 3 wald et al., The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Ohio Chapel Drive = a road off Ohio 83 south of Cum- (“OBBA II”, 2016). berland in Noble which traverses grasslands Taxonomic order and nomenclature follow Clear Creek = Clear Creek Metro Park; the east- the Check-List of North American Birds, 7th Edition ern 2/3 is in Hocking, the rest in Fairfield (1998) as updated through the 58th Supplement Clear Fork = Clear Fork Reservoir (or Lake), (2017). These documents are produced by the partly in Morrow but most of the birding is North American Classification Committee of the done in the larger Richland section American Ornithological Society and are avail- CLNP = Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve able at http://www.checklist.aou.org/. (the former Dike 14), Cuyahoga County names are in bold italics. Locations CNC = Cincinnati Nature Center, a non-govern- whose counties are of the same name, for ex- mental entity whose Long Branch Farm and ample Ashtabula (city) and Delaware Wildlife Rowe Woods units are in Clermont Area, usually do not have the counties repeated. Conneaut = the mudflats to the west of Con- County names for sites described in Cincinnati neaut Harbor, Ashtabula (Hamilton), Cleveland (Cuyahoga), Columbus CP = County Park (Franklin), Dayton (Montgomery), and Tole- CPNWR = Cedar Point National Wildlife Ref- do (Lucas) are also omitted. Shortened names uge, Lucas and a few sets of initials are used for locations CVNP = Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and organizations which occur repeatedly; these Cuyahoga and (mostly) Summit abbreviations are listed here. The term “fide” is Darby Creek = Battelle Darby Creek Metro used in some citations; it means “in trust of ” and Park, almost entirely in Franklin but with bits is used where the reporter was not the observer. in other counties as well Deer Creek = the State Park is in Pickaway, the Abbreviations: Wildlife Area is in Fayette, and Deer Creek Alum Creek = Alum Creek Reservoir, Dela- Lake is in both but mostly Pickaway ware, unless otherwise noted East Fork = East Fork State Park, Clermont Armleder Park = a Cincinnati city park on the East Harbor = East Harbor State Park, Ottawa Little Miami River, Hamilton Edge Preserve = The Nature Conservancy’s Edge Audubon = the National Audubon Society of Appalachia Preserve, multiple parcels mostly (http://www.audubon.org) in Adams and extending a bit into Scioto. Bayshore = a fishing access site near a power Edgewater = the Edgewater unit of Cleveland plant a bit east of Toledo Lakefront Metroparks, Cuyahoga BBS = the North American Breeding Bird Sur- Englewood = Englewood MetroPark, vey, a joint project of the United States Geo- Mont gomery logical Survey (USGS) and the Canadian Fernald = Fernald Preserve, Butler and Wildlife Service Hamilton Berlin Lake = Berlin Lake (or Reservoir), Ma- Findlay Reservoirs = several contiguous water honing and Portage bodies east of town in Hancock Big Island = Big Island Wildlife Area, Marion Funk = Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area, Ashland Blendon Woods = Blendon Woods Metro Park, and (mostly) Wayne Franklin Grand Lake = Grand Lake St. Marys. The State The Bowl = a limited-access area near the Har- Park, the state fish hatchery, and the eastern rison airport 20% of the lake itself are in Auglaize.