About the Callaway Nature Preserve

The Birdfreak Team's own private preserve is an example of how easy it is to create a wonderful birding haven in your own backyard. We are lucky to have a large backyard in the city of Rockford. Our wide diversity of trees creates a beacon for migrating birds and a wintering safe-haven for birds during inclement weather.

The wide mix of trees and plants along with water features - baths and drippers - we have tallied over 80 species of birds in just the last three years. Some of the highlights include Black-throated Blue and Cape May Warblers as well as Scarlet Tanager and Indigo Bunting.

Our yard was not always as bird friendly. As recent as March of 2004 we had a fairly boring, lawn-based yard with a nice variety of old, beautiful trees. View pictures of what it looked like before we started adding native plants and water features.

Our neighborhood is lucky in the fact that it has retained much of its original tree cover. But, it is just one piece of the great puzzle of habitat fragmentation and de-fragmentation. Together, if all people would turn their backyards into nature-nuturing sanctuaries we will enjoy a greater amount of wildlife for years to come!

We have sighted a total of 94 species of birds in approximately the last 3 years.
View the full list of birds.

In March of 2008 we became a Certified Wildlife Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation!

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