NPV Birding: Spring Bird Count and Chicago's Bird Festival
Illinois Spring Bird Count at North Park
A special thanks to all those who joined us on May 4th. Our walk and bird report will be part of the Illinois Spring Bird Count for this year. In total, we recorded 64 species. Two corrections to our list from our recap. First, the cuckoo some thought we saw was later confirmed to have been the Great-crested Flycatcher. There was also a bird that confused birders along the wooded trail. It was later confirmed by Erick Masias to have been a Yellow-throated Vireo! See the image below. While we dropped one bird from our summary count, we also added three; the Yellow-throated Vireo plus a Blackburnian Warbler and a Magnolia Warbler seen after the formal walk concluded.
eBird Checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S171966653
Species List:
- Canada Goose
- Wood Duck
- Mallard
- Mourning Dove
- Chimney Swift
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Ring-billed Gull
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Black-crowned Night Heron
- Great Blue Heron
- Turkey Vulture
- Cooper's Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Warbling Vireo
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Tree Swallow
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- House Wren
- European Starling
- Gray Catbird
- Swainson's Thrush
- Hermit Thrush
- American Robin
- Cedar Waxwing
- House Sparrow
- American Goldfinch
- Chipping Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Baltimore Oriole
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Common Grackle
- Ovenbird
- Northern Waterthrush
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Tennessee Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Northern Parula
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Yellow Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Scarlet Tanager
- Northern Cardinal
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
This is my second year helping out with the IL Spring Bird Count. This year I committed to covering three parks, all visited last Saturday. I'd like to share with you the species that highlighted the visit to each of these parks for me.
North Park Village
Gompers Park
Riis Park
Save the Date: September 14-15, 2024
After several months of planning, local birding organizations are happy to announce that the inaugural Urban Birding Festival is coming to Chicago on September 14 and 15. Details can be found on the new festival website. Be on the lookout for a full list of trips, events, and registration details this summer. But in the meantime, save the date, follow @urbanbirdfest on Instagram, and check out the highlights on how to support the festival.
The Urban Birding Festival is a joint effort by local birding organizations including Chicago Bird Alliance, Chicago BIPOC Birders, Feminist Bird Club Chicago, Chicago Ornithological Society, Red Hill Birding, and more!
For readers of this newsletter, I'd especially invite you to check out the General Info page of the website. I designed the logo for the fest and there's a section on that page dedicated to how the logo came to be. I used photos from eBird checklists across the region to highlight birds that use our urban landscape, as informed by the fest's planning committee.
Happy Birding!
-yorickgarcia (J'orge)