Entries from October 2007 ↓

#31 of 31 Days to Better Birding and Conservation

While we are not expert birders or all-knowing conservationists, we hope you’ve enjoyed this series of birding and conservation tips. We hope to provide information about bird conservation for years to come and to always promote birds and birding.

But we are just a small part of the world of birding. There are many wonderful bird focused blogs out there with daily commentary on birding and conservation. A good starting point would be Birds Etcetera, where you’ll find a large list of birding and nature blogs.

And you don’t have to stop there. There are many wonderful conservation organizations all over the world with websites loaded with information about birds and what we can do to help them. There are discussion groups all over the internet about birds and when and where to find them.

But, most importantly, get out there and spread the joy of birding to everyone, and have lots of fun doing it! Birds rule!!

Ovenbird

Illinois birding just got a whole lot better. There is a new place for birders to go to find information about the birds and birding issues in Illinois.

The Illinois Birder’s Forum offers an open place for discussion about conservation, laws, birding hotspots, rare birds, and more. Become a member today if you are interested in the birds of Illinois.

Special kudos go out to Greg Neise for spearheading this wonderful new place for birders.

#30 of 31 Days to Better Birding and Conservation

Unfortunately, the world is full of uncertainty and problems. Many of these require constant attention, debate, and can lead to utter despair. But the one thing that can bring birding and conservation up is a positive attitude.

Much of the world’s native habitat has been destroyed but much of it has been saved too. Species have gone extinct and yet, many have been brought back from the brink of extinction. All is not lost in the world of conservation. With millions of birders working together, how can we not make things better for our birds and ourselves?

Birding Illinois by Sheryl De Vore is the premiere source for birding hotspots in Illinois. With over 110 locations discussed, Birding Illinois covers the state from top to bottom and east to west. Besides discussing where to bird, this book also breaks down when to bird, an excellent feature for resident birders as well as those looking to travel to the Prairie State.

Our only qualms about this book are that the Chicago area is featured more prominently than the rest of the state and, being published in 2000, the book is already quite out of date. Obviously limited to space, there are many locations that are not covered, including many in our county (Winnebago) which is understandable, yet a bit disappointing. With a large number of birders living in Chicago and the outlaying area, it too makes sense for that area to be well covered.

A Turkey Vulture soaring above the Rock River

That said, Birding Illinois is an excellent resource for birders, with well written and researched data. We have some of the best birding in Illinois, and this book shows this off.

We don’t know if an update is in the works, but we are hoping that an online version may be created, something we have started for our own county.

#29 of 31 Days to Better Birding and Conservation

Birding is sometimes hard to understand when discussing with a non-birder. Explaining why you would get up before dawn and count birds for twelve hours in sub-freezing weather is sometimes difficult to someone who would rather spend their Saturday at the mall. But if you can coerce that same person into actually going birding with you, your chances increase at turning that person into a birder. (It helps if you can find some cool birds that are willing to stay still).

The more birders there are, the more conservation, and the more birds for us birders to enjoy!

#28 of 31 Days to Better Birding and Conservation

Shade-grown coffee has been around for awhile now and is important to bird conservation. Coffee grown in the shade allows for conservation of native habitats in Central and South American countries, as the land doesn’t need to be cleared for “traditional” coffee production. Supporting the companies that produce shade-grown coffee over traditional coffee gives them incentives to continue the process.

But even if you don’t drink coffee, the same principles of economics apply in other fields as well. If birders support companies with sound environmental policies and those that contribute to bird conservation, the more incentives they’ll have to continue what they are doing. No matter what people say, profitability runs businesses, even not-for-profits that need positive money to continue to function properly.

If bird conservation can mesh with sound business, we are infinitely more likely to accomplish more conservation. The best example outside of shade-grown coffee is ecotourism. If birders pay to see birds, businesses will not allow habitat to be destroyed, because in doing so they would be destroying their own livelihood.

#27 of 31 Days to Better Birding and Conservation

Each year we participate in multiple Christmas Bird Counts and the Spring Count but that is often not enough. So we’ve decided to start our own counts in the months where there are not official counts.

In May we did a 72-hour birding count where we spent 3 days trying to find as many species as we could in Winnebago County. Currently we are planning on doing bi-weekly counts of one of our favorite locations, Rock Cut State Park, from November through March.

These counts differ from Big Days or Big Sits because we are trying to inventory the birds and their locations and hopefully over a few years build up some data about our local bird populations.

So if you are looking for a little fun and a way to study bird populations, start your own count. Get as many people as you can involved and record the data. It might never be published in a scientific journal, but having an excellent understanding of your local birds will help when a new development is threatening to demolish the only forest in your area that has Cerulean Warblers or some other wonderful bird.