Book has become a go-to source for Ohio birders
- Bruce Glick: Gone Birding
- August 13, 2018
- 1748
Recently I was looking at Bruce Peterjohn’s introduction to “The Birds of Ohio,” in which he gives a brief introduction to the early ornithologists of our state. It seemed like something that readers would be interesting in, so I’ll summarize Peterjohn’s words here.
The earliest investigation of the birds of Ohio was done by ornithologist Dr. James Kirtland in the mid-1800s until his death in 1877. About that time Dr. J.M. Wheaton became Ohio’s most prominent ornithologist. His book, “Report on the Birds of Ohio,” was published in 1882. Following Wheaton were two prominent ornithologists, Lynds Jones of Oberlin and William Dawson of Columbus. They both published books in 1903. Dawson then left Ohio, but Jones continued to write about Ohio birds for several decades.
Dawson’s book was a large 660-page effort, published in one volume or in a two-volume set. Jones wrote the introduction and analytical keys. The book’s subtitle was “a complete, scientific and popular description of the 320 species of birds found in the state.” It was well illustrated “with 80 plates in color photography and more than 200 original half-tones, showing the favorite haunts of the birds, flocking, feeding, nesting and more from photographs taken by the author and others.”
The book was sold only by subscription and was published in Columbus by the Wheaton Publishing Company.
Amazingly, after these 1903 efforts, the next publication of all the birds of Ohio didn’t happen until 1989 when Peterjohn’s first edition came out. Ohio birders were thrilled to have an up-to-date book that gave information about all the birds of the state. It was a large format book with full-page paintings by William Zimmerman, who also produced the paintings for similar state bird books for Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana.
Eleven years later Peterjohn updated his book with a second edition. This time the format was smaller with no paintings or photos of the birds. Instead it contained many maps, reproduced from Ohio’s first breeding bird survey. The 637-page book immediately became the go-to source for all Ohio birders.
Over the years there have been a number of excellent books covering birds of specific areas of Ohio. Ornithologists such as Milton Troutman (“Birds of Buckeye Lake”) and Lou Campbell (“Birds of the Toledo Area”) added a great deal to our understanding of birds in Ohio.
There also have been a number of excellent checklists produced over the years. Some of these were statewide while others covered specific areas. Publications such as “The Ohio Cardinal,” “The Cleveland Bird Calendar” and “The Bobolink” provided current birding updates for birders. However, in the last 10-15 years things have been changing.
Today one can find almost any information about any species of bird in the world as well as locations, worldwide, just by checking in with e-Bird. Still, I love to have a book in my hands. Anyone out there interested in doing a 2018 revision of Peterjohn’s “The Birds of Ohio?”
Good birding!
Email Bruce Glick at birderbruce@yahoo.com or call 330-317-7798.