Ohio Winter Bird Atlas published!

The Ohio Biological Survey is pleased to announce the publication of the long-awaited “Ohio Winter Bird Atlas.” Its hefty 390 pages cover many aspects of the hardy bird species that overwinter here. Here is an excerpt from Kenn Kaufman’s thoughtful forward:

If we hope to have any understanding of the lives of birds, we have to consider what those birds are doing at every season. There is no down time; every day of the year is an important piece of the puzzle.

Life-history studies often concentrate on the behavior of a species during the breeding season. It’s easy to see why researchers would be drawn to that season: there are so many moving parts (so to speak), so many things going on, from courtship to nestbuilding to survival of the fledged young. But for most species, the breeding season occupies considerably less than half the year. It’s equally important for the birds to make it through the remaining months, and their strategies for survival through these times are equally worthy of study.

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The resulting volume is a fine tribute to the first winter bird atlas project in North America, a highly educational resource for anyone interested in birds, and a benchmark for measuring ongoing changes in our birdlife in the future.

The book is now available to purchase via Amazon.