Birds of the Lower Ohio Valley - West Virginia (BLORV)
Ornithological History
Reprinted from Birds of the Lower Ohio Valley in West Virginia (Kiff et al. 1986)
Among the earliest bird observations of any significance in our region were those of George Washington, who mentioned seeing turkeys and waterfowl on the Ohio and Great Kanawha Rivers (fide Hall 1983). Along the Ohio River at a point about 10 miles above the mouth of the Kanawha River, Washington's party landed on 30 October 1770 and proceeded some distance from the river. Here they found numerous shallow ponds and "a Couple of Birds in size between a Swan and a Goose; and in Colour somewhat between the two; being darker than the young Swan and of a more sutty Colour; the cry of these was as unusual as the Bird it self, as I never heard any noise resembling it before..." (Christy 1930). It is quite likely that these birds were Sandhill Cranes. Although various prominent 19th Century ornithologists, including Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon, passed through the area, they left little record of their ornithological observations in southwestern West Virginia. Audubon (1831) did record the occurrence of the Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) on the Great Kanawha River (presumably near Point Pleasant), the only record for this now-extinct species in our area. Wilson reported seeing vast flocks of Passenger Pigeons in Mason County in 1810 (fide Handley 1976).
The first formal ornithological investigations in southwestern West Virginia appear to have been those of a party of collectors from the Smithsonian Institution in 1936 under the direction of Alexander Wetmore (1937). The Smithsonian field team collected specimens and made formal observations in our area of coverage between 19 April to 4 May and 25 October to 5 November. Specific localities visited by this party included Barboursville, Point Pleasant, Ben Lomond, Mercer's Bottom, Ashton, and along the Ohio River near Huntington.
Karl Haller (1940) conducted an important study of the birds of Mason, Cabell, Jackson, and Putnam Counties between 1936 to 1940, concentrating his personal efforts in the former two counties. His list, which included 232 species and subspecies, represented the first compilation of its kind for southwestern West Virginia.
The comprehensive check-list of West Virginia birds by Brooks (1944) included the most important records of birds from the Lower Ohio River Valley to that date. However, the southwestern portion of the state was still poorly investigated ornithologically at that time, at least relative to more northern areas where there were more observers. It should be noted that all or most of the "Great Kanawha River" records by the Morgan brothers were cited by Brooks were presumably made in the region of Poca and Winfield, Putnam County, and therefore fall outside the area covered by this report.
The Huntington Bird Study Club (now the Huntington Tri-State Audubon Society) was formed in 1940 and has been the only formally organized ornithological group in our area since then. This group has conducted Christmas Counts since its inception, and, depending upon the composition of its membership, has made other valuable contributions to our knowledge of local birdlife at various times during its history. Although the Brooks Bird Club was organized earlier (1932) than the Huntington Club, relatively few of its field programs have been conducted in the Lower Ohio River Valley area. Members of the Handlan Chapter of the BBC have made many important observations at McClintic Wildlife Station and at nearby Kyger Creek, Ohio, however, and many of the most significant ones were mentioned by Handley (1976).
Beginning in the early 1940's, Dr. N. Bayard Green, of Marshall University (then Marshall College), began compiling significant bird observations, primarily migration dates, which were reported to him by students, Huntington Bird Study Club members, and other local birding enthusiasts. This task was assumed by the late Dr. Ralph Edeburn, also of the Marshall Department of Biological Sciences, in 1945, and he continued this practice until his retirement in 1970. Based partly on these files and also upon his own field work, one of Edeburn's graduate students, Edward Seeber, produced the first version of the present list as his master's thesis (Seeber and Edeburn 1952), thus laying the groundwork for future investigators.
Seeber was followed in the Huntington area by the two Land brothers, Hugh and Holwell, who rapidly became absolute tyros at finding birds new to the area. The Land brothers were the first local birders to concentrate on the waterfowl and waders to be found on or along the Ohio River and at McClintic Wildlife Station, and the records they compiled between 1951 and 1956 have left us with a valuable picture of what conditions were like during that period. A revision (Edeburn et al. 1960) of the original list of the birds of the Lower Ohio River Valley by Seeber and Edeburn (1951) was based largely upon the new data obtained by the Land brothers.
During the late 1950's a group of eager young birders formed a loose association which they called (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) the "Ona Ornithological Society". The nucleus of this group included Wendell "Sonny" Argabrite, Orman Hall, Tom Igou, Lloyd Kiff, Harry Slack, and Charles Viers, and the slightly more senior Maxine Kiff and Leon Wilson. Over the past three decades the members of the "OOS" have been among the most active bird students in the Cabell-Mason-Wayne County region, conducting Christmas Counts, Century Days, Breeding Bird Surveys, maintaining banding stations, and engaging in other field activities. The present report is based in large part upon the collective field work and impressions of the "OOS" with valuable additions by several newer Huntington birders, especially Jonathan Igou, Gary Rankin, and Ed Smith.
The first formal ornithological investigations in southwestern West Virginia appear to have been those of a party of collectors from the Smithsonian Institution in 1936 under the direction of Alexander Wetmore (1937). The Smithsonian field team collected specimens and made formal observations in our area of coverage between 19 April to 4 May and 25 October to 5 November. Specific localities visited by this party included Barboursville, Point Pleasant, Ben Lomond, Mercer's Bottom, Ashton, and along the Ohio River near Huntington.
Karl Haller (1940) conducted an important study of the birds of Mason, Cabell, Jackson, and Putnam Counties between 1936 to 1940, concentrating his personal efforts in the former two counties. His list, which included 232 species and subspecies, represented the first compilation of its kind for southwestern West Virginia.
The comprehensive check-list of West Virginia birds by Brooks (1944) included the most important records of birds from the Lower Ohio River Valley to that date. However, the southwestern portion of the state was still poorly investigated ornithologically at that time, at least relative to more northern areas where there were more observers. It should be noted that all or most of the "Great Kanawha River" records by the Morgan brothers were cited by Brooks were presumably made in the region of Poca and Winfield, Putnam County, and therefore fall outside the area covered by this report.
The Huntington Bird Study Club (now the Huntington Tri-State Audubon Society) was formed in 1940 and has been the only formally organized ornithological group in our area since then. This group has conducted Christmas Counts since its inception, and, depending upon the composition of its membership, has made other valuable contributions to our knowledge of local birdlife at various times during its history. Although the Brooks Bird Club was organized earlier (1932) than the Huntington Club, relatively few of its field programs have been conducted in the Lower Ohio River Valley area. Members of the Handlan Chapter of the BBC have made many important observations at McClintic Wildlife Station and at nearby Kyger Creek, Ohio, however, and many of the most significant ones were mentioned by Handley (1976).
Beginning in the early 1940's, Dr. N. Bayard Green, of Marshall University (then Marshall College), began compiling significant bird observations, primarily migration dates, which were reported to him by students, Huntington Bird Study Club members, and other local birding enthusiasts. This task was assumed by the late Dr. Ralph Edeburn, also of the Marshall Department of Biological Sciences, in 1945, and he continued this practice until his retirement in 1970. Based partly on these files and also upon his own field work, one of Edeburn's graduate students, Edward Seeber, produced the first version of the present list as his master's thesis (Seeber and Edeburn 1952), thus laying the groundwork for future investigators.
Seeber was followed in the Huntington area by the two Land brothers, Hugh and Holwell, who rapidly became absolute tyros at finding birds new to the area. The Land brothers were the first local birders to concentrate on the waterfowl and waders to be found on or along the Ohio River and at McClintic Wildlife Station, and the records they compiled between 1951 and 1956 have left us with a valuable picture of what conditions were like during that period. A revision (Edeburn et al. 1960) of the original list of the birds of the Lower Ohio River Valley by Seeber and Edeburn (1951) was based largely upon the new data obtained by the Land brothers.
During the late 1950's a group of eager young birders formed a loose association which they called (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) the "Ona Ornithological Society". The nucleus of this group included Wendell "Sonny" Argabrite, Orman Hall, Tom Igou, Lloyd Kiff, Harry Slack, and Charles Viers, and the slightly more senior Maxine Kiff and Leon Wilson. Over the past three decades the members of the "OOS" have been among the most active bird students in the Cabell-Mason-Wayne County region, conducting Christmas Counts, Century Days, Breeding Bird Surveys, maintaining banding stations, and engaging in other field activities. The present report is based in large part upon the collective field work and impressions of the "OOS" with valuable additions by several newer Huntington birders, especially Jonathan Igou, Gary Rankin, and Ed Smith.