Welcome to the Venango County Birds webpage. The page is designed to provide birding information for those of you interested in watching, feeding, or just discussing birds in Venango County, Pennsylvania, and surrounding area.
Venango County is located in northwestern Pennsylvania approximately midway between Erie and Pittsburgh. During the past twenty years, 267 species have been recorded in the county. Based on current available information, records previous to this are scarce.
One goal of this site is to have more local people become
actively involved in finding and reporting bird sitings, so your questions, comments, criticisms, and witticisms are welcome. The
more communication the better; hopefully we'll all learn something.
MAKE YOUR SIGHTINGS COUNT
The Cornell University Lab of Ornithology sponsors a great way to keep track of your bird sightings and, at the same time, contribute data that can be used by scientific researchers. You can keep a property list, a list for another location you visit often, your life list or pretty much any other list you want. The site keeps track of your entries & allows you to print out yearly, monthly, or weekly reports reports in a variey of ways. For example, after entering the data for your property for a period of time, you can print out a list of all the different birds you sighted on your property during that period, the highest number of each species you reported, the number of days during the month or year you reported a robin, etc. And, it's easy to enter the data. Just keep track of what you see and the highest number seen at any one time during the day, enter that number into the data sheet eBird provides, save it, and you're done. The name of the site is eBird PA and it can be accessed at: eBird PA You'll need to sign up & enter your own password before starting but, after that, it's pretty easy. If you have problems, email me, I'll be glad to help.
LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO GO BIRDING IN PENNSYLVANIA? The Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology has published a great list of the Pennsylvania's top birding sites by county. Visit their web page at Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology and click on Birding Locations on the left hand side. You'll find what you're looking for. WHO AM I? Photo 1. An occasional nester in the county, this picture was taken May 15 near Bullion. Photo 2. This shorebird passes through in Spring and Fall enroute to and from its Canadian nesting area. The picture was taken May 16 at Rhoades Farm near Kahle Lake.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING Answers: Photo 1 - This rather noisy thicket-loving summer resident is a White-eyed Vireo. Photo 2 is a Solitary Sandpiper.
SENECA ROCKS AUDUBON SOCIETY
Please consider joining us at an upcoming meeting or field trip. Good times are had by all.
There are no meetings in June, July, or August. Please check the Seneca Rocks web site for summer activities at Seneca Rock Audubon Society website
SIGNIFICANT SIGHTINGS IN THE LAST 30 DAYS
| Date | Species | Location | Comment | ||||
| May 14 | White-eyed Vireo | Bullion | Singing male | ||||
| Canada Goose | Mallard | American Black Duck | Bufflehead | Common Goldeneye |
| Common Merganser | Ring-necked Pheasant | Ruffed Grouse | Wild Turkey | Pied-billed Grebe |
| Bald Eagle | Northern Harrier | Sharp-shinned Hawk | Cooper's Hawk | Red-shouldered Hawk |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Rough-legged Hawk | American Kestrel | Merlin | Ring-billed Gull |
| Rock Pigeon | Mourning Dove | Eastern Screech Owl | Great Horned Owl | Barred Owl |
| Belted Kingfisher | Red-bellied Woodpecker | Downy Woodpecker | Hairy Woodpecker | Northern Flicker |
| Pileated Woodpecker | Northern Shrike | Blue Jay | American Crow | Black-capped Chickadee |
| Tufted Titmouse | Red-breasted Nuthatch | White-breasted Nuthatch | Brown Creeper | Carolina Wren |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | Eastern Bluebird | American Robin | European Starling | Cedar Waxwing |
| American Tree Sparrow | Song Sparrow | White-throated Sparrow | Dark-eyed Junco | Northern Cardinal |
| Red-winged Blackbird | Purple Finch | House Finch | Pine Siskin | American Goldfinch |
| House Sparrow | ||||
| Total: 56 |
| Snow Goose | Tundra Swan | Gadwall | American Wigeon | Northern Pintail |
| Redhead | Ring-necked Duck | Greater Scaup | Hooded Merganser | Great Blue Heron |
| Turkey Vulture | American Woodcock | Horned Lark | Field Sparrow | Common Grackle |
| Total added: 15 |
| Trumpeter Swan | Wood Duck | Northern Shoveller | Green-winged Teal | Canvasback |
| Lesser Scaup | Long-tailed Duck | Red-breasted Merganser | Ruddy Duck | Common Loon |
| Horned Grebe | Double-crested Cormorant | American Coot | Killdeer | Bonaparte's Gull |
| Eastern Phoebe | Common Raven | Tree Swallow | Eastern Towhee | Chipping Sparrow |
| Fox Sparrow | Eastern Meadowlark | Rusty Blackbird | Brown-headed Cowbird | |
| Total added: 24 |
| Blue-winged Teal | Red-throated Loon | Greater Yellowlegs | Upland Sandpiper | Wilson's Snipe |
| Osprey | Forster's Tern | Chimney Swift | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Blue-headed Vireo |
| Warbling Vireo | Purple Martin | N. Rough-winged Swallow | Bank Swallow | Cliff Swallow |
| Barn Swallow | Winter Wren | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | Hermit Thrush |
| Gray Catbird | Brown Thrasher | Blue-winged Warbler | Northern Parula | Yellow Warbler |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | Black-throated Green Warbler | Yellow-throated Warbler | Black-and-White Warbler | American Redstart |
| Ovenbird | Northern Waterthrush | Louisiana Waterthrush | Savannah Sparrow | Henslow's Sparrow |
| Swamp Sparrow | White-crowned Sparrow | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | Baltimore Oriole | |
| Total added: 39 |
| Great Egret | Green Heron | Virginia Rail | Semi-palmated Plover | Spotted Sandpiper |
| Solitary Sandpiper | Lesser Yellowlegs | Least Sandpiper | Caspian Tern | Black Tern |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | Black-billed Cuckoo | Common Nighthawk | Whip-poor-will | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| Eastern Wood Pewee | Acadian Flycatcher | Willow Flycatcher | Great Crested Flycatcher | Eastern Kingbird |
| White-eyed Vireo | Yellow-throated Vireo | Philadelphia Vireo | Red-eyed Vireo | Veery |
| Wood Thrush | Northern Mockingbird | American Pipit | Tennessee Warbler | Prairie Warbler |
| Palm Warbler | Bay-breasted Warbler | Blackpoll Warbler | Chestnut-sided Warbler | Magnolia Warbler |
| Cape May Warbler | Black-throated Blue Warbler | Blackburnian Warbler | Cerulean Warbler | Common Yellowthroat |
| Hooded Warbler | Wilson's Warbler | Canada Warbler | Scarlet Tanager | Lincoln's Sparrow |
| Indigo Bunting | Bobolink | |||
| Total Added: 47 |
RESULTS FOR THE YEAR
Following is a link to the 2012 Species List, now standing at 181, updated May 16, 2012. 2012 Species List
Previews of Coming Attractions:
With the coming of March, we will begin to see an increase in the number of birds returning from their winter homes. Some will pass through, some will stay. The following link April and May Bird Schedule lists arrival dates based on the past 25 years or so of records we've been keeping for the county. Species in all caps have been reported.
Help Wanted! 
I'm in the process of gathering information for a book on the Birds of Venango County and the more people contributing information, the better. Currently, five of us gather information on a regular basis and a few more contribute periodically. We would welcome your input. Birding experience is helpful but anyone from feeder watchers, to hunters, to bike trail enthusiasts, etc. can join in.
A BIG "THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT THIS MONTH" TO:
Other Web Sites For Birds:
All you ever wanted to know about hummingbirds
Venango County Wildlife Rehabilitators
Birds & other nature pictures of Charlotte County, Florida, my brother's web page with some great pictures
Little Birdie Home, up-to-date information on rare bird sighting and more
National Audubon Society
PA Soc. for Ornithology's website. Good local & statewide info
Seneca Rock Audubon Society website
Bartramian Audubon Society
Eastern PA Bird Photos & Information
Mark McConaughy's PA Bird Photos
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Find Local Birders For Your Next Trip
Birding on the Net
Nature site featuring on-line field guides
Very nice general information, rarity pictures, & more
Birding in Canada
Birding News Around Ohio
Purple Martin Information
Westmoreland Co. Birds
Virtual Birder
About.com Bird Page
State Checklists
Bird Hotlines
Birding
Birdzilla's comprehensive selection of wild bird info
Other Interesting Web Sites for Related Subjects:
Gerry Rising's Nature Watch Column
Venango County Rootsweb Genealogy Site
Venango County Weather
Venango County Fishing Spots
On-line Maps
Local News, Oil City Derrick
http://www.birding.com/Wheretobird.asp
Discover the top birding "Hot Spots", print out free
checklists and discover the best birding web sites for each
area.
Where To Bird has a separate page
devoted to each State and Province as well as many foreign countries.
The
link to a specific State or Province uses this format: http://www.birding.com/wheretobird/California.asp