Winnebago County Lacks Good Shorebird Habitat

During The Birdfreak 72-hour Birding Event of Winnebago County, Illinois, we did not find many shorebirds. Winnebago County has many great forest preserves and different types of habitat, but no mudflat-type areas. It would be wonderful if Winnebago County would be able to create an area for shorebirds to stop by.

Solitary Sandpiper - Winnebago County

Usually, the only shorebirds we find are along the Kishwaukee River and on creeks along the side of country roads. It is too bad that we don’t have a good place to see shorebirds within our county.

Wilson’s Snipe - Dekalb County

Lesser Yellowlegs - South Padre Island, Texas

Here are the Birdfreak Team beginning ideas to build a good habitat for shorebirds

1. Contact the Natural Land Institute to see if they have anything in the works for shorebirds
2. Write a letter to the editor of our local paper, the Rockford Register Star to get the word out
3. Research the area for shorebird potential
4. Contact the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District for more information on what we can do