Hinckley in Medina County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
The Founders of Buzzard Day
Photographed by Craig Doda, May 10, 2026
1. The Founders of Buzzard Day Marker
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Events.
Location. 41° 14.298′ N, 81° 44.69′ W. Marker is in Hinckley, Ohio, in Medina County. It is at the intersection of Center Road (Route 303) and Ridge Road (Ohio Route 94), on the right when traveling east on Center Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1634 Center Rd, Hinckley OH 44233, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Cleveland and in the Western Reserve. It is also in the American Midwest and in the Corn Belt. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: In Memory (within
this page online
Also see . . . Everything you need to know about Buzzard Day in Hinckley. Just like clockwork, they return to Hinckley every March 15th.
The tourists and lovers of buzzards are the ones who make the annual migration to the Buzzard Roost in the Hinckley Reservation at the intersection of State Road and West Drive.
As for the buzzards?
There's a bit of speculation over whether they ever even left their roost in the trees by the cliffs and caverns of Whipp's Ledges for the winter in the first place. But in a tradition that dates back to the 1950s, folks gather in the park at the
Photographed by Craig Doda, May 10, 2026
2. Hinckley Historical Society Museum
The real festivities will be the following Sunday (March 24) with activities and food planned by the Hinckley Chamber of Commerce.
The events have a new central location this year at the Hinckley Preparatory Academy at 1586 Center Road.
It all starts at 7 a.m. March 24 with the pancake breakfast and then a craft show starting at 7:30 a.m. and runs through 2 p.m.
There will be other activities including a live buzzard and a carnival.
Ruby Chiara of Sonoma, California, traveled from out of state take in the annual return of the buzzards.
A history lesson
The town's love affair with buzzards runs a lot deeper than a pancake breakfast and a craft show.
Buzzard Day has officially been celebrated on March 15 since 1957, but the legend dates back a lot longer than that.
Folklore says the buzzards began to arrive in the spring of 1818 after the Great Hinckley Hunt.
Tired of losing livestock to predators, some 400 settlers spread out over a 25-square-mile area and walked toward Hinckley to drive all the wolves, bears and other predators to one spot to be rounded up and killed.
Legend has it scores of buzzards then swooped in to feed off the rotting carcasses and never left.
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The buzzards were attracted to Hinckley's many stone ledges and mature trees that made for a nice place to roost.
Where does the March 15 Buzzard Day date come from?
In the 1950s, a Cleveland Metroparks patrolman offhandedly told a Cleveland Press scribe that he personally had clocked the birds' appearance every March 15 the previous six years.
The news story about the patrolman's observation quickly spread across the country. When March 15 rolled around in 1957, about 9,000 spectators and dozens of reporters arrived in the sleepy town to witness the return.
The park and its rural surroundings were overwhelmed by the large number of visitors, with reports of small children stumbling into the nearby creeks. Area restaurants even ran out of food.
And Buzzard Day has been marked every March 15 ever since. (Submitted on June 27, 2026, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on July 14, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 23, 2026, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 16 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 23, 2026, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
