Entries from March 2007 ↓

Illinois has seven regularly occuring thrushes, five of which are long-distance migrants: Wood Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Hermit Thrush, and Veery. American Robins and Eastern Bluebirds (also in the thrush family) are year-round residents or short-distance migrants.

Wood Thrush

One of the most common of the migratory thrushes, the Wood Thrush is easily identified by its mystical song but at times is somewhat difficult to see. It is the only one of the five that commonly nests in Illinois. The Wood Thrush resides in heavy forested areas and spends most of its time near the ground. There are some concerns over on-going population declines due to deforestation and cowbird parasitism.

A Wood Thrush often returns to the same breeding territory in successive years. It also may return to the same wintering area each year. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Hermit Thrush

Identified by its reddish tail, brown back, and spotty chest, the Hermit Thrush spends the winter in North America, switching its diet from insects in the warmer months to a mixture of fruit and insects. The Hermit Thrush’s song is melodious and haunting. Population trends show they are increasing over most of their range.

East of the Rocky Mountains the Hermit Thrush usually nests on the ground. In the West, it is more likely to nest in trees. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Swainson’s Thrush

The Swainson’s Thrush can be identified by its buffy face and prominant eyering. This thrush also has a melodious flute song that is very enjoyable to listen to.

The Swainson’s Thrush is the only woodland thrush whose song goes up in pitch. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

They mostly nest in coniferous forests and winter as far south as Argentina. Unfortunately, the Swainson’s Thrush’s numbers appear to be declining.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

The Gray-cheeked Thrush is closely related to Bicknell’s Thrush and despite having a much larger range, has not gained as much attention. The Gray-cheeked has a plain gray face with light streaking but no eyering. It migrates through Illinois and is usually a headline item on birding hotlines.

Of all the American spotted thrushes, the Gray-cheeked has the most northern breeding range. Consequently this shy skulker of the underbrush is not well known and is rather infrequently seen. - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Veery

The Veery is the least spotted of the migratory thrushes and has a distinct orangish brown (”tawny”) coloring. The Veery’s call is a descending “da-vee-ur, vee-ur, veer, veer,” as if echoing part of its name. The Veery nests in damp deciduous forests of the north and Rocky Mountains. There is some decline throughout its range.

A study of migration using radio telemetry showed that the Veery can fly up to 160 miles (285 km) in one night, and that it can fly at altitudes above 1.2 miles (2,000 m). - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The five migratory thrushes of Illinois make up some of the highlights of spring and fall migration. They are all skulkers and best identified by sound, and thus provide an interesting challenge to birders. However, these thrushes can be found fairly easily in good backyard habitat suitable for them.

The Birdfreak Team’s backyard preserve, The Callaway Nature Preserve, has attracted all but the Gray-cheeked (possibility). Thrushes need lots of cover so brush-piles, shrubs, and hostas among others can do the trick. Fresh water, especially drippers also help attract thrushes.

A trick to finding thrushes is to scan the area below eye-level to the ground and watch for slight movement. Thrushes often freeze for relatively long periods of time, providing good looks.

eBird Histogram of Illinois Migrant Thrushes

He doesn’t get paid (except in dog food) but we’d like you all to meet our new Doberman, Arizona! (pictured with our dad)

He was dumped at a nearby airport and is about 1 year old. Today he went on his first birding trip and was infactuated by a low flying Canada Goose. We discovered a small but growing Great Blue Heron rookery but the distance was too far for a good photo. I am looking to take up digiscoping soon!

Many states have an ongoing forum that birders report and read about birds in their state. IBET is a free group that anyone can join and add to, with just a few reasonable rules.

IBET has over 1200 members, making it the most widely used bird communication site in Illinois.

Positives of IBET

• Learn about new birding locations
• Up-to-date area sightings
• Rare bird alerts
• Archived reports
• Learn from other birders

Negatives of IBET

• Broadcasted sightings of nesting and rare birds, causing potential stress
• Lack of state-wide users; most are from the Chicago area
• Newer birders possibly not feeling post-worthy

IBET is a valuable source for birders, but could use improvement. IBET could benefit from a better format, such as a blog, or if it was integrated with eBird.

Severson Dells Environmental Education Center is part of the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District and provides a lot of education opportunities as well as good birding. Nearly every month there are guided bird walks led by naturalist Phil Schwab. These are excellent for beginning birders and enjoyable for experts.

The education center is a converted deer lodge that has a small museum, library, and bookstore/giftshop that is open 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday-Saturday and 1:00-5:00 PM on Sundays. There are various areas to watch feeder birds from inside which is a great place in the winter - Common Redpolls, Purple Finches, Tufted Titmice, and Pine Siskins are some of the possibilities.

There is a self-guided, paved nature trail that takes you through woods, prairie, creek, and a pond. Spring migration and winter are excellent times to bird here. For up-to-date info, visit the Severson Dells Blog or the Winnebago Birding Guide

Boone County is one of the smaller counties of Illinois, bordering Winnebago, McHenry, and DeKalb Counties and the state of Wisconsin. Where it is lacking in size (only 281 square miles, about 1/2 that of Winnebago) it makes up for in good birding habitat and conservation efforts.

The Boone County Conservation District has created and maintained several excellent preserves, most notable the Kishwaukee Bottoms area and Spencer Park Conservation Area. Unfortunately, like too many counties, their website is not very informative.

Boone County has some excellent birding opportunites, including the virtually unknown Flora Prairie Nature Preserve and nearly anywhere along the Kishwaukee River. In fact, the Kishwaukee River corridor is a project we’ve been trying to get going. This river is one of the few “good” rivers left in northern Illinois.

Full list of Boone County Conservation Areas including map.

The Winnebago Birding Guide is an online bird-finding site that highlights the wonderful birding locations in Winnebago County. This county has done a wonderful job in preserving land but even so, some birds are no longer found here - most notably the Greater Prairie Chicken.

Currently there are 36 forest preserves, 1 state park, and several other notable protected sites. The Guide is a work in progress, but we are planning on doing quite a bit of work on it throughout 2007 and beyond.

Top 5 Birding Sites in Winnebago (unofficial)

1. Rock Cut State Park
2. Sugar River Forest Preserve
3. Pecatonica Wetlands Forest Preserve
4. Deer Run Forest Preserve
5. Severson Dells

I just discovered a small (as in only 9.67 acres) preserve in Boone County called Flora Prairie Nature Preserve. This preserve is one of the very few parcels of native prairie in Boone County and is most known for a native plant known as the wooly milkweed. This plant is state endangered but was last collected in 1946 by E. W. Fell, a well known naturalist who helped create a book about the plants of Winnebago County.

I have not visited Flora Prairie yet and am unsure if this is the location that the Illinois Ornithological Society was going to visit when they had their annual meeting in Rockford. There is another preserved area in Boone called Garden Prairie (not sure if that is the official name). I will be visiting both sites soon for photos and will try and get more info from NCIOS members.

The location of Flora Prairie is: southwest of Belvidere: 3 miles south of I-90 on Stone Quarry Rd., then 3.5 miles west on Poole Rd. A small parking area is provided just off Poole Rd. on the south side of the nature preserve. Topo Map