Ohio
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Range Maps
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NEW PROJECT ANNOUNCMENTOhio
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The accompanying animation is set at 5 second intervals so as to allow the deliberate absorption of visual information. Please note two items of interest:
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First: The 3-prong invasion (depicted in varying shades of green) from neighboring West Virginia and Pennsylvania speaks to how rapid the species enveloped much of Ohio. The apparent disjunction between our easternmost border and sites of appearance in Cleveland and Columbus are most likely the result of this common backyard feeder bird being more readily detected in areas of higher human population density. Second: Note the rapid two-year (yellow) expansion into outlying rural areas from urban/suburban centers. But what astonishes me most is the apparent resistance the population expansion meets, taking several years longer to move into the former prairie peninsular of Ohio. - V.W.Fazio, III |
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Question Marks: Just how House Finch filled in the Northwest is clouded by incomplete data. The area in light blue may well have been colonized by 1986. Three potential recording stations exist within this area. The Van Wert CBC, near the Indiana border, stopped recording in the early 80's prior to the arrival of House Finch in that area; Hancock Co. CBC, eastern edge of the area in question, did not begin recording until the early 90's when House Finch were already well established, and Indian Lake CBC, southern edge of area, first noted the species in 1985 and may simply have overlooked any low density population by the very few observers (2-3) involved in that count.
Although this is non-breeding season data, the establishment of breeding populations closely mirror the spread depicted here. The first confirmed nesting records for Ohio were in 1977 in Columbus and Cleveland (Peterjohn 1989. The Birds of Ohio).
Introduction | To repeat animation you must reload this page.This research, including mapped graphics, was initially an assignment in a 1982 undergraduate course in cartography by V.W.F. III.