by Emily Rinaman, Technical Services Manager
“Snowbirds” has become the popular term to call individuals who winter in the warm southern states before returning home to the Midwest once winter has ended. The term has caught on because while native mammals typically hibernate, non-native birds migrate.
While Ohio can claim select species of birds as full-time residents, the month of May is typically when the migration of birds to our area reaches its peak. Some stay for the summer and start heading back south in the fall, and others only visit Ohio while passing through farther north into Canada.
Modern apps on smart phones have made it much easier for newbie bird watchers to identify these birds, but bird-watching has been a popular hobby for decades, if not centuries.
Blue Herons spotted along the Sandusky River by Naturalist Ray Grob. This photo was one of many he included in his book, “Down the Sandusky,” which has been digitized on the Seneca County Digital Library.
The timing of specific species and the order in which they arrive is pretty standard, but the exact dates will depend on a lot of factors and that’s what makes bird watching so thrilling – the anticipation of seeing that first hummingbird, for example.
We can tell early residents to Ohio knew their birds, or at least strived to study them, from several accounts all digitized on the Seneca County Digital Library.
When Colonel William Crawford and his troops where parading through northwest Ohio in the late 1700s, they noted that they encountered sand-hill cranes with their “shrill pipes”, prairie owls with their “cumbrous wings”, noisy bitterns, wild geese and the “occasional” bald or gray eagle.
For many years, Dr. A.C. Shuman, who organized the first Boy Scout troop in Tiffin in 1914, collected stuffed birds that were later dedicated to the Seneca County Museum when it opened in 1942 (as well as insects and flowers). Many can still be seen in its “Natural History” exhibits.
Other clubs also were highly interested in studying birds. In April 1922, the Tiffin Woman’s Club hosted a program at the Jr. O.U.A.M. Home called “Our Native Birds,” having invited the President of the American Audubon Society to present. Bird Study was also of the Mental Badges that a Tiffin Boy Ranger could earn, according to its handbook.
Members of the 1937-1938 Columbian High Nature Club, which formed in 1932.
A Nature Club at Tiffin Columbian High School was formed just ten years later. Judge Wagner even gave the club a strip of land along the Sandusky River from his house to Bacon’s Mill for the express use by the club. The 1934 Blue and Gold Yearbook states that the students and their adviser, C. W. Lutz, “immediately transformed this strip of land into a bird sanctuary and they built bird houses and supplied food for the birds.” Meetings continued to be held every Thursday for several years thereafter. In 1938, the club members planted shrubs and built a bird bath for the school grounds so they could more easily study and classify birds and plants.
Individuals in the area took on similar projects of their own, creating sanctuaries on their own personal properties, like Mr. Gammeter from Green Springs. He was known as the “Beautifier of Green Springs” and with permission kept areas surrounding the village as preserved as possible for the birds (and squirrels, according to the Green Springs Centennial).
A married couple from Watson Station, John and Ruth (Stover) Heckerd, developed a three-acre sanctuary on their property in 1960 and called it “Greenbrier.” In 1981, Ruth added another seven acres to it. This sanctuary included several water fountains, feeders and heated bird baths for the winter and for many years was a tourist destination for local gardening clubs. Ruth loved animals so much, she was instrumental in re-activating the Seneca County Humane Society around the same time she and her husband built their sanctuary.
In Tiffin in 1876, a pair of brothers Billy and John E. Benner, developed “Empire Park,” which included a zoological garden on one acre on Railroad Street. Visitors could see a pair of American Eagles, white crane and blue heron (plus “squirrels of every kind”). Stuffed birds were set up in an exhibit made to look like the Swiss Alps.
Works cited:
Butterfield, Consul Willshire. An Historical Account of the Expedition against Sandusky Under Col. William Crawford in 1782. 1873. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/16475
Grob, Ray. “Down the Sandusky with Ray Grob.” 1971. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/30654
Green Springs Centennial Committee. Green Springs Centennial. 1972. Seneca County Digital Library. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/29439
Historical and Business Review Seneca County 1891-1892. Union Publishing Co., 1891. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/15697
Ranger Hand Book. Tiffin Boy Rangers, Inc.
https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/33018/rec/1
Seneca County Digital Library, Tiffin Columbian Yearbooks. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/search/searchterm/education/field/subjec/mode/exact/conn/and
Seneca County Museum Dedication 1942. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/34958/rec/2
Seneca County Genealogical Society. “Seneca County, Ohio History and Families”. 1998. Seneca County Digital Library. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/28319
Tiffin Woman’s Club Program 1922. https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/40635
Fun resources to check out for more information on migratory birds in Ohio:
Black Swamp Bird Observatory. “Timing of Spring Migration” and “Timing of Fall Migration” https://www.bsbo.org/timing-of-spring-migration.html
Nature Conservancy. “Top Five Must-see Migrations in Ohio.” https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/ohio/stories-in-ohio/top-five-must-see-migrations-in-ohio/