Every spring scores of people flock to the Buzzard Festival at Hinckley, Ohio.
They come to watch for buzzards. Most would be glad just to catch a glimpse of at
buzzards. If they do see one of these “flying
garbage cans." it will probably be circling high in the sky. From there it can watch the
ground for signs of the waste and the dead animals on which it feeds.
The buzzard is the ugliest bird in the United States. ln fact, it may well be the
ugliest bird in the world. it has a small, bare, pink head. its thick body is covered with dark. rough feathers. After a winter in the south. buzzards return to their homes in the north. In the Hinckley area, they always return on March t5. No
one knows why. But they have come back to Hinckley Ridge on that day, sure as clock-
work, for at least fifty years. The buzzards really arrive before spring
does in Hincklcy. But the people are tired of the long winter. They are eager to hail the coming of spring. So it doesn't matter to them how cold it is on March I5. lt doesn't matter how raw the winds are. The people of Hinckley still look on the return of the buzzards each year as the beginning of spring. in San Juan Capistrano in California,spring is said to start on March 19. On thatday the swallows come back to Capistrano. The people of Hinclcley aren't so lucky. They don’t have swallows until later in the year. But they do have buzzards. So they welcome spring with them.
The excitement starts in February. By the middle of March it has reached a high
peak. Bets are placed. Prizes go to the person who sees the first buzzard. Radio stations
and newspapers tell of the coming festival.Pupils in Hir1ckley’s school draw buzzarcl
pictures and put them up in the halls of the school. And on the weekend after March l5
the people of Hinckley hold their Buzzard Festival.
There are no bright banners and balloons. No bands march up and down the
streets. There is just a big sign on the road to tell of the festival. Some small signs have cartoon drawings of “Buzzy Buzzard" on them. Pancakes and sausages are served. And
that‘s about it.
The people come and look around. They chat. They eat their fill of pancakes and
sausages. Then they get into their cars and drive past Buzzard's Roost on Hinckley
Ridge.
A lot of them stop near the road at the stand set up to give information to visitors.
There they can hear, from a recording, the main facts about the buzzard. They can see a
stuffed buz2-ard. They can look at some pictures taken of buzzards in other years. With
good luck and a strong pair of field glasses,they may sight one or two live buzzards high
in the sky. Buzzards may be ugly. They may be
“flying garbage cans.“ But in Hinckley they
are just as welcome as the swallows are in Capistrano. They are as important as ernus
are to the Australians, or storlts to the Dutch
and Germans. lt would be a sad spring indeed if the bttzzards ever failed to come
back to llinckley Ridge.