COMM0N BIRDS OF OHIO c d g u i d e b o o k DIVISION OF WILDLIFE INTRODUCTION HOW TO USE THIS BOOK COMMON BIRDS of Ohio Family Name Quick Info: Range, Habitat, and Best Spots B o r r o r / o D o W B i r D S o n g S Common Name Species Photo Knowing the sounds of our birds is Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica TRACK #37 RANGE: Like the purple martin, barn swallows are Common statewide. very much associated with humans. This important to becoming a better birder, HABITAT: bird is aptly named; they typically build their Open countryside, nests on support beams in barns, or under especially agricultural areas. overhangs of sheds and other buildings. Barn Description BEST SPOTS: Allen Claybon swallows are unmistakable, with their very as many birds are quite secretive and Easily found in suitable areas throughout long forked tails and orangish underparts. Ohio; like other swallows, often queues : They are quite vocal, emitting a continuous up in large flocks in late summer. photo by hard to see, but their calls are easily barrage of rapid twittering notes. © Photo Credit heard. The birder with knowledge of Page 27 Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus TRACK #38A RANGE: songs and calls will find more birds, in- Roughly the northern ¼ of This species is extremely similar to the Caro- Ohio, from Mansfield north. lina chickadee, but is easily differentiated with practice by their vocalizations. Black- HABITAT: cluding many that would otherwise go cappeds occur north of the Carolina’s range, Similar to the Carolina chickadee. David Van Meter and for the most part they don’t overlap. BEST SPOTS: : The song of the black-capped chickadee is a Easily found in appropriate habitat; two-parted whistled fee-bee, and their chik-a- Killdeer Plains WA is a noteworthy site photo by undetected. In some cases the best way dee-dee calls are much huskier and slower in to observe chickadees, as both species © Track Number have been reported there. to confirm identification is by the song corresponses with tempo than the Carolina chickadee. accompaying audio CD or call. Finally, learning the sounds of Ohio’s songsters can greatly increase Best Spots: Abbreviations MP = Metropark (county) one’s enjoyment of the natural world. NP = National Park This CD contains 103 of Ohio’s most NWR = National Wildlife Refuge common breeding birds that are found SF = State Forest SNP = State Nature Preserve primarily in upland habitats. Most of SP = State Park these sounds were recorded in Ohio, TNC = The Nature Conservancy and each species includes songs and WA = Wildlife Area calls that are most typically heard. Habitat can be a clue to a bird’s iden- tity, and many birders also use mne- monics – memory devices – to help learn and remember songs. Refer to the COMMON BIRDS Of OHIO text in the booklet that accompanies TABLE OF CONTENTS this CD for helpful information regard- ing habitats and tips that might aid in 04 Birding Hot Spots 08 Species Accounts 61 Contact Information learning these sounds. 06 Groups & Organizations 60 Birding Fast Facts 62 Publication Funding SPECIES ACCOUNTS 8 Ring-necked Pheasant 21 Eastern Phoebe 34 American Robin 47 Eastern Towhee 8 Ruffed Grouse 21 Great Crested Flycatcher 34 Gray Catbird 47 Chipping Sparrow 9 Wild Turkey 22 Eastern Kingbird 35 Northern Mockingbird 48 Field Sparrow 9 Northern Bobwhite 22 White-eyed Vireo 35 Brown Thrasher 48 Vesper Sparrow 10 Red-tailed Hawk 23 Yellow-throated Vireo 36 Cedar Waxwing 49 Savannah Sparrow 10 American Kestrel 23 Blue-headed Vireo 36 Blue-winged Warbler 49 Grasshopper Sparrow 11 Killdeer 24 Red-eyed Vireo 37 Northern Parula 50 Henslow’s Sparrow 11 Mourning Dove 24 Warbling Vireo 37 Yellow Warbler 50 Song Sparrow 12 Black-billed Cuckoo 25 Blue Jay 38 Chestnut-sided Warbler 51 Swamp Sparrow 12 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 25 American Crow 38 Black-throated Green Warbler 51 Dark-eyed Junco 13 Eastern Screech-Owl 26 Horned Lark 39 Yellow-throated Warbler 52 Northern Cardinal 13 Great Horned Owl 26 Purple Martin 39 Pine Warbler 52 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 14 Barred Owl 27 Barn Swallow 40 Prairie Warbler 53 Blue Grosbeak 14 Common Nighthawk 27 Carolina Chickadee 40 Cerulean Warbler 53 Indigo Bunting 15 Whip-poor-will 28 Black-capped Chickadee 41 Black-and-white Warbler 54 Dickcissel 15 Chimney Swift 28 Tufted Titmouse 41 American Redstart 54 Bobolink 16 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 29 White-breasted Nuthatch 42 Prothonotary Warbler 55 Red-winged Blackbird 16 Red-headed Woodpecker 29 Carolina Wren 42 Worm-eating Warbler 55 Eastern Meadowlark 17 Red-bellied Woodpecker 30 House Wren 43 Ovenbird 56 Common Grackle 17 Downy Woodpecker 30 Sedge Wren 43 Louisiana Waterthrush 56 Brown-headed Cowbird 18 Hairy Woodpecker 31 Marsh Wren 44 Kentucky Warbler 57 Orchard Oriole 18 Northern Flicker 31 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 44 Common Yellowthroat 57 Baltimore Oriole 19 Pileated Woodpecker 32 Eastern Bluebird 45 Hooded Warbler 58 Purple Finch 19 Eastern Wood-Pewee 32 Veery 45 Yellow-breasted Chat 58 House Finch 20 Acadian Flycatcher 33 Hermit Thrush 46 Summer Tanager 59 American Goldfinch 20 Willow Flycatcher 33 Wood Thrush 46 Scarlet Tanager on THE CoVEr: NORTHERN CARDINAL OHIO BIRDING HOT SPOTS Under each species account in this booklet is a section titled “Best Spots”. The general statewide location of these sites is shown on the adjacent map. See page 6 for a listing of contact information for various agencies and organizations to learn more. GLACIATED ABBREVIATION KEY UNGLACIATED MP = Metropark NER = National Esturarie Reserve NP = National Park NWR = National Wildlife Refuge 4 SF = State Forest SNP = State Nature Preserve SP = State Park TNC = The Nature Conservancy WA = Wildlife Area 1 Lake La Su An WA 2 Goll Woods SNP OHIO BIRDING TRAILS 3 Maumee State Forest 4 Oak Openings MP Appalachian Discovery 5 Maumee Bay SP appalachiandiscovery.com 6 Ottawa NWR 7 Magee Marsh WA 8 Resthaven Wildlife Area Hocking Valley Birding Trai birdhocking.com 9 Mentor Headlands SNP 10 Cuyahoga Valley NP 11 Holden Arboretum Ohio Lake Erie Birding Trail 12 Grand River WA lakeerieohiobirding.info MAP COURTESY: ODNR DIVISION OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 13 Quail Hollow State Park 14 Tinkers’ Creek State Park OHIO LAKE ERIE BIRDING TRAIL 15 Mohican State Forest 16 Beaver Creek State Park 17 Woodbury Wildlife Area 18 Egypt Valley Wildlife Area 19 The Wilds 20 Tri-Valley Wildlife Area 21 Hocking SF/SP (Conkle’s Hollow SNP) 22 Clear Creek MP 23 Waterloo Wildlife Area 24 Tar Hollow State Forest 25 Zaleski SF/Lake Hope SP 26 Lake Katharine SNP 27 Crown City Wildlife Area 28 Shawnee State Forest 29 Edge of Appalachia TNC 30 Tranquility Wildlife Area 31 Indian Creek Wildlife Area 32 Miami-Whitewater MP 33 Hueston Woods State Park 34 Paint Creek Wildlife Area 35 Spring Valley Wildlife Area 36 Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area 37 Findley State Park 38 Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area 39 Killbuck Wildlife Area 40 Big Island Wildlife Area 41 Alum Creek State Park 42 Blendon Woods MP 43 Hoover Reservoir 44 Green Lawn Cemetery 45 Deer Creek Wildlife Area 46 Davey Woods SNP 47 Lawrence Woods SNP LAKE ERIE o H i o BIRDING . i n F o 48 Mercer Wildlife Area BIRDING GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS One of the best ways to get involved with birding is to join a group of like-minded people. Fortunately, Ohio has a number of active groups throughout the state that have many birders as members, and most of these organizations host field trips regularly. Listed below are the names and contact information for many of the state’s birding groups. GLACIATED UNGLACIATED 1 AUDUBON SOCIETY OF GREATER CLEVELAND The Park Building • 140 Public Square Cleveland, OH 44114 216-861-5093 6 www.clevelandaudubon.org 2 AUDUBON SOCIETY OF OHIO 3398 West Galbraith Rd. • Cincinnati, OH 45239 513-741-7926 http://home.earthlink.net/~audsocohio/ 3 AUDUBON SOCIETY/MAHONING VALLEY P.O. Box 3214 • Youngstown, OH 44512 members.cboss.com/audubonmv/ 4 AUDUBON MIAMI VALLEY P.O. Box 556 • Oxford, OH 45056 www.orgs.muohio.edu/audubonmiamivalley/ 5 BLACKBROOK AUDUBON SOCIETY 7573 Dahlia Drive • Mentor, OH 44060 440-255-0961 www.blackbrookaudubon.org MAP COURTESY: ODNR DIVISION OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 6 BLACK RIVER AUDUBON SOCIETY 16 GREATER MOHICAN AUDUBON SOCIETY 304 West Ave • Elyria, OH 44035 P.O. Box 907 • Ashland, OH 44805 www.blackriveraudubon.org http://audubon.cjb.net/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Borror Laboratory of Bioacous- 7 BLACK SWAMP AUDUBON SOCIETY 17 KELLEYS ISLAND AUDUBON CLUB P.O. Box 7086 • Defiance, OH 43512 P.O. Box 42 • Kelleys Island, OH 43438 tics (BLB) is a research and service www.kelleysislandnature.com unit of the Department of Evolution, 8 BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY Ecology and Organismal Biology at P.O. Box 228 • Oak Harbor, OH 43449 18 KIRTLAND BIRD CLUB The Ohio State University. It is located www.kirtlandbirdclub.org 419-898-4070 in the OSU Museum of Biological Di- www.bsbobird.org 19 OHIO BIRD CONSERVATION INITIATIVE versity. 9 CANTON AUDUBON SOCIETY www.obcinet.org/index.html The BLB houses one of the largest P.O. Box 9586 • Canton, OH 44711 collections of recorded animal sounds 20 OHIO BLUEBIRD SOCIETY 330-832-2491 in the world. Founded by the late Dr. PMB 111 • 343 West Milltown Rd. Wooster, OH 44691 Donald Borror, Professor of Entomol- 10 CINCINNATI BIRD CLUB www.obsbluebirds.com www.cincinnatibirds.com/birdclub ogy and Zoology at The Ohio State University, the collection contains 21 OHIO ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 11 COLUMBUS AUDUBON P.O. Box 14051 • Columbus, OH 43214 over 34,000 recordings of over 1500 P.O. Box 141350 • Columbus, OH 43214 www.ohiobirds.org species of animals.