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A shorter version of this account was published in the Spring 1982 edition of the Illinois Audubon Bulletin.
Exotic birds? Unusual birds? Probably none so unusual ever crossed our path as the one that appeared in our midst on November 23, 1981.
“Hepatic,” it means “relating to the liver” or, in this case, liver-colored. Not a great start, but a great story…..
My parents, Loraine and Eunice Funk, were preparing to haul an animal or two from our dairy farm in Beverly, Illinois, to Schweigert’s at Tremont for the annual Illinois Invitational Jersey Sale. At the time we were milking about 80 cows, but a good portion of our income was from the sale of breeding stock, hence the trip to Tremont. The truck was all loaded (including cows, if I remember correctly) and parked in front of the garage. Uncle Bob, my younger brother, and I had been in the milkhouse, and as we exited, he asked, “What’s that bird in the hackberry?” Bob wasn’t really a birder, except by osmosis, being the son of my birding parents and my brother, but he noticed “something different.” I saw immediately that it was “something unusual” – larger than a House Sparrow, and mostly orange-yellow. After just a few seconds it flew around the west side of the old barn and landed in one of the evergreen trees on the north side of the barn lot.
I had no binoculars at the barn. What I did have was a .22 rifle with an 8x scope, so I grabbed it from the truck and viewed the bird (perhaps to his alarm…who knows?). A brief look told me it was likely a tanager (right size, shape, and bill type) and most likely a Summer Tanager, with no sign of black on the wings. The bird then flew a short distance to the magnolia tree next to the garage. I managed to dash inside the house and get my parents’ attention, and they saw the bird for just a few seconds before it flew away. I saw it again very briefly later in the day flying around a pile of gates near the solar barn. [The solar barn was a combination calf barn and hay barn with the south roof panels replaced with clear plastic, with a flat-black-painted insulated attic. The fan from the grain dryer pulled air across this attic, warming the air by 15-30 degrees F and allowed us to do most of our grain drying for several years without using propane. This was designed primarily by my brother, Dr. Ted Funk, retired Agricultural Engineering staff from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign.]
That evening I called Dave Bohlen at the Illinois State Museum to report. When I told him I believed the bird to be a summer tanager, and gave a description, his response was, “Had you considered hepatic?” Uh, no. Why should I?” I had seen one Hepatic Tanager in my life, and that it was in southeast Arizona, one of the few places in the country where they “belong,” in April of 1971. No Hepatic Tanager had ever been reported east of the Mississippi River. Dave’s reasoning, however, was that since NO tanager should be in Illinois that late in the fall, one species was about as likely as another and none should be excluded. I began reading about Hepatic Tanagers in the Bent Life History Series and grew rather excited. The bird had NOT really looked like a Summer Tanager, and certainly not like a Scarlet, and it looked awfully “comfortable” in that evergreen (Hepatic Tanagers spend most of their time in evergreens in the mountain southwest.) One thing I noted in the literature was the “chuck” call note typical of the species.
The next morning at daybreak I was scouring the premises for the tanager. As I roamed the barnyard and house vicinity, I occasionally uttered what I presumed to be a reasonable imitation of the “chuck” call note. When something “chucked” back at me from under the apple tree on the west end of their garden I nearly had a heart attack! Sure enough, there was the tanager, eating a frozen apple from the tree (Jonathan variety) in the garden. We watched it through the telescope for a few minutes before running for the telephone. Dave’s reaction from Springfield was “I’ll be there in an hour. Put out some fruit!” I’m glad no one got in his way during the drive, because he didn’t take much longer than an hour to cover the 80 miles between Springfield and Beverly.
In addition to calling Dave, I’m pretty sure I called Pat Ward, Bob Randall and a couple of people from Quincy. The word spread from there. There’s no telling what a mob we would have had with today’s network!
The story of the rest of the week is well-done in my mother’s memoir, Grandma Married a Birder. She relates what it was like to fix Thanksgiving dinner surrounded by visiting birders, one of whom stayed for Thanksgiving dinner, and try to keep the coffee pot full and the cookie plate filled as between 80 and 90 individuals came from surrounding states. There were people waiting when we came home from church on Sunday, and some of them stayed for lunch.
I don’t think the neighbors were the least bit surprised by the commotion. Our reputation preceded us.
Many of the sightings were made at Granville Hill’s yard, about half a mile northeast of the Funk farm, as their apple tree had a bumper crop of frozen fruit, which I think were Golden Delicious. The best pictures, including the one on our wall at home, were taken at Hill’s. The bird made a brief appearance in our yard, allowing us to add it to the “yard list.”
Nearly everyone who came did eventually see the bird except one couple who were extraordinarily impatient, and of course those who didn’t come until the following Monday, as was not seen after Sunday when the weather turned bad; the bird either succumbed or decided it had had enough of Illinois and headed south.
Postscript
Birding in our family was a group project. My parents pretty much had us out every weekend during migration, plus we were “out” all the time when we were working. One of my younger sister Mary’s most memorable expeditions was when she was about 7, and we climbed a bluff in Calhoun County to see a Hooded Warbler. I carried her (she is 12 years my junior) a good portion of the way up the slope. Her comment was “I wish I was home in my own little bed!”
My grandkids live down the road, and they are the 8th generation on the property, but we no longer farm. One of the neighbors does the farming, and there has been no livestock since 2001.
Hepatic tanager has to be the best yard bird, but we also had Bewick’s Wrens nesting in our gas grill twice and our dryer vent once. Other than that there was nothing more exciting than a Pileated Woodpecker. I have no idea what my yard list was at my parents place, but I know it was not as impressive as the yard list we had when we lived a mile west of Beverly, where we had black and yellow Rail, among other interesting stuff.
My Illinois life list at the time was probably about 320. It’s at 345 now, but I haven’t done nearly as much chasing recently as I did in the 70s. I’ve birded all fifty states, including driving to Alaska and back this past summer. I’ve also been birding in western Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago.
I’m still birding, and if I ever manage to retire, I hope to be more active!
By James L. Funk
Edited by Ted Wolff
Hepatic Tanager Recollections
How did word get out about this Illinois rarity in those antediluvian pre-internet days? I believe Jim Funk contacted Dave Bohlen to confirm identification, and Bohlen then reached out to Larry Balch, after which the word was spread among Chicago area birders. I have a dim recollection of talking to Dave Johnson about it during that period.
I left my home in Mt. Prospect in the wee hours of Thanksgiving day so that I could arrive at the Funks at first light. Leaving on Thanksgiving morning attests in some measure to how supportive my folks were, that they were fine for me to be gone most of the day but be back home by dinner.
I did see the tanager, and wound up staying for breakfast, which the Funks graciously offered. The most memorable moment of that meal was the discourse provided by one of the younger members of the family who said she wanted to marry a dairy farmer who raised Jerseys. I left and arrived home in plenty of time to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family. It was a most productive day.
Postscript
I have no idea what my Illinois life list was at the time, but having just lost Thayer’s Gull to the vagaries of taxonomic pronouncements my list plummeted to 399 where it currently stands. The recent Broad-billed Hummingbird and Magnificent Frigatebird would have been state birds, but they were not chaseable.
In my view the best three birds ever recorded in the state were the Large-billed Tern in 1949 (a first for North America), the Eleania (depending on which of the two species it would be either a first or second North American record), and the Common Ringed Plover (second Great Lakes record and first for Midwest). The last two mentioned are probably the best birds I have seen in Illinois.
By Joel Greenberg
Westmont, Illinois
The 1981 Thanksgiving Hepatic Tanager
It had been a normal Thanksgiving Day with extended family in the Chicago suburbs. I had planned to bird the Chicago lakefront the next day (Friday, November 27, 1981) with my friend, Homer Eshbaugh. Late on Thursday afternoon, Homer called to tell me that his plans had changed. He explained that a Hepatic Tanager had been discovered and confirmed “near Quincy” and that he was going to chase it in the morning with some other Chicago area birders. There was one seat left in the car. Did I want to come along?
I started birding seriously in 1977, and until this time had never chased a bird that was further than 90 minutes away, so I had to consider the idea for a few seconds. It took a few seconds more when he told me that they could pick me up at 0330 on Friday morning. Since I had never seen an Hepatic Tanager, I decided that I would go.
A car pulled into the driveway at 0330. Larry Balch was driving. It may have been the second time that I had met him. Homer was in the car, plus one additional birder who I think was Richard Biss. I got into the back seat and off we went. We arrived about 30 minutes after sunrise. Other birders were already present, so we didn’t have a problem finding the bird in an apple tree on the Funk farm. I got close-up looks through Larry’s and Homer’s Questars.
The Funk family was wonderfully cordial and welcoming. This was my first experience with guest books at bird rarity sightings. Some of us were given a tour of the buildings and the award-winning dairy herd of Jerseys. We stayed a little over 90 minutes visiting with the Funks and the other birders present.
Before we headed back to Chicago, I had a request: “Were there any Eurasian Tree Sparrows around?” I had never seen one. With a suggestion from Jim, it didn’t take long to find a flock of them, after which we headed back to Chicago. Larry, Homer and Rich were congratulating themselves on “sweeping the tanagers” in Illinois. I was pleased to have added 2 birds to my life list. The Eurasian Tree Sparrow followed Hepatic Tanager as life bird #358, and Illinois lifer #280.
My Illinois life list was at #396, but is now #395 with the Thayer’s Gull lump. The Hepatic Tanager is probably the most special Illinois bird for me because it was a life bird, my first long chase to see a bird, and because it remains Illinois’ only record of this species. However, finding the Garganey in Garden Prairie probably ties the tanager, as it’s always more rewarding to find and see a rarity.
by Dan Williams
Rockford, Illinois
DOWITCHER BASICS
Dowitchers are large-bodied, short-legged migratory shorebirds with extremely long bills relative to body length. In general, dowitchers (including juveniles) have warm orangeish or reddish underparts from late spring through summer and early fall, molting to cold gray upperparts with whitish underparts from late fall through winter and early spring. All feed belly-deep in shallow water on mud flats, probing the mud with a stitching “sewing machine” motion of their bills. Flight is purposeful and direct (often in small flocks). In flight, all show pointed wings and a distinctive and conspicuous wedge-shaped white rump patch extending all the way up the back.
The difficulties arise when trying to distinguish the two similar species that occur as migrants. To clarify, only two forms are expected in Illinois: the monotypic Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus), and the “prairie race” Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus hendersoni). For brevity, Long-billed will be referred to as LBDO, and Short-billed (hendersoni “prairie race” ONLY) will be referred to as SBDO. Although it is possible that other forms of SBDO may occasionally occur as vagrants in Illinois, I am unaware of any accepted records of SBDO forms other than hendersoni.
CALLS
The most reliable way to distinguish the two forms year-round is by their diagnostic calls. LBDO flight call is a sharp “keek” given singly or in rapid series. SBDO flight call is a hollow, mellow “tu-tu-tu.” LBDO also often engages in soft chatter while foraging, unlike SBDO.
MIGRATION ENVELOPES
LBDO has a more northerly distribution (breeds in tundra of Alaska & northern Canada, winters in southern U.S. and Mexico). SBDO has a more southerly distribution (breeds in the prairie provinces of Canada, winters as far south as the West Indies, Central America, and northern South America). Therefore, it follows logically (based on distance traveled) that LBDO arrives earlier than SBDO in spring and conversely, later in fall than SBDO. April dowitchers are almost invariably LBDO. SBDO arrives later in spring, usually not until May and arrive in fall by early July.
BILL LENGTH
Per Paulson’s “Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest” (1993), LBDO bill length ranges from 54-81 mm; SBDO bill length ranges from 51-69 mm. Therefore, dowitchers with very short bills CANNOT be safely identified to species based on that character alone. On the other hand, dowitchers with bill length at the long end of the spectrum can be safely identified as LBDO, especially if other dowitchers are nearby for comparison.
STRUCTURE
LBDO averages chunkier than SBDO, often (but not always) showing a rounded back and belly (as if it had swallowed a grapefruit). LBDO bill also averages longer, thinner-based, finer-tipped, and straighter than SBDO, but there is much variation between the two species.
SPRING DOWITCHER IDENTIFICATION
For all dowitcher identification, it is important to have a good grasp of bird topography and to have a decent understanding of terms like “tertials,” “scapulars,” and “flanks.” During the spring, all dowitchers are adults or near-adults that are either transitioning into breeding plumage or have attained full breeding plumage. Although it is true that LBDO in full breeding plumage have dark, brick-red underparts from throat to vent (more orange with some white in vent in SBDO), remember that spring LBDO migrants seen in Illinois are often still in transitioning molt and show a considerable amount of white on the underparts.
The most solid plumage clue one can use in separating spring adults (in fresh breeding or near-breeding plumage) of LBDO from hendersoni SBDO is the PATTERN OF SPOTTING AND/OR BARRING ON THE FORENECK, BREAST, AND BREAST SIDES. LBDO shows dark barring on the breast sides, with the foreneck and center of breast thickly spotted with black. On the other hand, adult hendersoni SBDO in breeding or near-breeding plumage show sharp ROUND BLACK SPOTS (no barring) on the breast sides, a clear foreneck with no spotting, and little or no spotting on the center of breast. Note also that breeding plumage LBDO shows a pattern of light and dark barring on the flanks (dark barring or spotting only in SBDO). Another very useful field mark in FRESH breeding plumage is the patterning of the lower scapulars: black centered feathers with bold white tips in LBDO vs. pale edges that wrap up and around the feather sides in SBDO.
FALL DOWITCHER IDENTIFICATION
From early July through the first week of August, the Illinois dowitcher migration is owned by adult hendersoni SBDO in fresh breeding plumage. Don’t expect to see much of anything else. Moving forward to the second week of August through the third week of September, the Illinois dowitcher migration changes considerably and is then dominated by juvenile SBDO (but smaller numbers of worn adult SBDO and LBDO may also occur). With a decent view, juvenile SBDO may be easily identified by their tiger-stripe, orange-buff internal markings on the tertials and scapulars.
Beware of worn adults seen in August, as they are notoriously difficult to identify. The rounder shape of LBDO is helpful in distinguishing between the two species, but not always reliable.
From late September through October (and into November), juvenile LBDO (molting into the gray winter plumage) is the expected form in Illinois. These are very different in appearance from juvenile SBDO. They are overall grayish, with a gray breast and only a touch of orange on the belly. There are no tiger-stripe orange-buff internal markings on the tertials and scapulars, but the scapulars are clearly outlined with bright reddish chestnut, which is a diagnostic distinguishing mark.
Back on April 3, 2017, I was in a northeast Lake County area when I heard a loud, unusual bird chattering along with various birds and an Eastern Gray Squirrel running for cover. Suddenly, a Merlin came flying by, chasing after some prey. Over the next week, when checking on this area, I continued to see this adult male actively hunting, sometimes diving into suburban front yards, other times pulling up and perching in a nearby oak. At that time, I figured this male must be a late migrant, hindered from migrating by the ongoing strong north winds.
Investigating the area again on April 8th, I heard Killdeer distress calls, but to my surprise, I soon discovered it was the same male Merlin giving the calls, something I later understood was related to its nesting cycle. What transpired next stunned me. This male flew towards the top of a Bur Oak, whereupon it landed next to a female Merlin, who started to give repeated similar calls (but sounding more like a wounded Killdeer). It was a Merlin pair and they were clearly on a territory! Over the next half hour, I watched what I later realized was their courtship flight, the male, sometimes the female, circling in horizontal flight with fluttering wings, giving those Killdeer-like calls the whole time and overall having an appearance similar to flying Monk Parakeets.
As if this wasn’t exciting enough, at the end of one of his fluttering circles, calling the whole time, he then landed on top of the female and copulated for a second! Soon after, he did this again, staying for two seconds and prepared for this stunning event, I was able to secure the first Illinois photographs of copulating Merlins.
Immediately after the copulation, the male flew off, only to return soon after with a prey item (mouse or small bird), which it plucked its feathers/fur and then left the food item on a conifer branch, intended as dinner for its now established mate.
Merlins don’t make their own nests, instead using crow or hawk nests. In the alley behind the lookout oak perch tree was an active crow nest. This crow pair clearly was not sharing my excitement at the significant ornithological history occurring in their midst. Interestingly, I never heard the crows give any calls or attempt to drive away these Merlins. It almost seemed like they didn’t know exactly what these birds were, only that there was some form of danger in their midst, so they remained silent as they examined the situation. On the evening of the first copulation and dinner, I later saw the female Merlin fly up to this Norway Spruce and enter the crow nest. It looked like the Merlin’s were taking over the active crow nest and with copulation that afternoon, egg laying would be expected by the morning – the first confirmed Merlin active nest in Illinois history!
Nevertheless, at my next visit here, the crows had returned and were brooding on their nest. It looked like the crows might have won the skirmish over the rights to this nest. Meanwhile, the Merlins continued on for weeks to come, continuing to actively use the tall oak lookout perch, the male hunting and daily bringing food to the waiting female (a known courtship activity).
I visited this area a couple times at end of the day and found both Merlins quite active heading into sunset, using various tall tree perches together. I found them actively using the area more than half a mile to the west/northwest and half a mile to the south/southeast of the crow nest site.
This tall oak was in suburban front yard and was daily used as a lookout perch over the area, along with affording a view of the nearby nest. It continued as their main perch, at least until the oak leaves grew by the end of May. Also during April and May, adjacent to this Bur Oak lookout perch, another shorter tree was used as a feeding perch, easily confirmed by all the small feathers and white ‘splash’ beneath it. This tree was the end of the driveway, so many drivers passing by could have easily seen this Merlin perched and feeding.
I personally saw kill items of a mouse, junco, sparrow (probable White-crowned), White-breasted Nuthatch and most amazing, both Chimney Swift and a Barn Swallow, all brought to the female to feed on. It was like the female did no hunting at all during this courtship period, perhaps a test to see if the male could regularly provide for her. Merlins are not like other falcons in their hunt technique. They sit on perches, often high up, where they can get a global view of the area and from where they can launch out on an attack, giving its ‘Killdeer’ like call as they fly horizontally with amazing speed, ultimately catching their prey. Catching a fast, agile Chimney Swift or Barn Swallow in flight were more than enough evidence to convince me of their amazing hunting abilities.
But what of their breeding? Pair on territory, daily courtship routines, male feeding female multiple times a day, copulation seen at least four times by April 12th… yet still not official nest being used. Would this just go down as a failed dry run for this pair? After all, this was incredibly far south of their expected nesting range. In their normal range, I read that nesting typically started after the onset of May, so I had hopes things would turn around, especially as this pair continued to actively keep this small yard territory into May.
With the continued unseasonable cold weather and north winds into the second week of May, it was becoming apparent to me that the next strong southerly front would be the proof as to whether this pair was actually going to nest or if it was going to be recorded as a failed breeding attempt. I never did see the actual encounter between the crows and Merlins, if even there was one. The daily ‘pressure’ of having these falcons adjacent to their nest might have been too much for the crows and perhaps they voluntarily left. On the other hand, there could have been some sort of death skirmish. However it happened, by the second week of May, the crows had abandoned their nest in this Norway Spruce, setting up the possibility of the Merlins taking it over. Merlins like having a nest in an evergreen where they can fly in and land on the branch next to it, along with the nest providing a view of the larger territory surrounding it. They apparently don’t have to be high up, although this nest site would be considered on the high end, at least 60 feet up.
A strong warm front arrived by midday May 15th and either the Merlins perceived its arrival and began laying eggs (as early as May 9th, following a night of copulation and multiple feedings by male) or began immediately laying eggs the day after this warm front. Either way, I was able to happily confirm their return to this chosen former crow nest site by May 16th. This nest was so deep that the brooding female was typically not seen, only rarely a small portion of its tail sticking up out of nest. She typically revealed her presence when the male, with its high pitched calls, brought her next meal. On those occasions, the female left the nest, took the male’s catch and went to a nearby perch to feast. Meanwhile, the male actually went up to the nest and did nest brooding duties until the female had completed its meal. On one occasion, I saw the female get out of the nest and fly southeast, upon which the male came to sit on the nest, suggesting she did occasional hunting for herself.
With egg hatching taking about a month and fledgling an additional month, it appears as if mid-July would provide the first information on whether young will survive the nest. Fledglings are apparently fed by adults for another four weeks, so this nest story is expected to be complete by mid-August. If fledglings survive until next year, the hope is that this general area, with its expansive great habitat for what Merlins look for in nesting, could become an epicenter for their range expansion into Illinois. 2012 seemed to be a year of increasing reports from central Wisconsin, followed by three confirmed nesting in that region in 2015, along with an amazing two nests that summer on the north side of Milwaukee – less than 45 miles from the Illinois stateline!
With Merlins now sporadically nesting in the lower half of Wisconsin, along with ten Illinois June to July ebird Merlin records in the last 5 years, there’s already a suggestion that range expansion is already underway in various northern tier locations in our state.
by Eric Walters
What is the Breeding Bird Survey and what does it do for the birds?
All of us reading this article enjoy birds and want to protect the birds and the places where birds live. One of the most important ways that we both protect birds and our environment is by monitoring bird populations. Unlike nearly all other taxa, birds can be effectively monitored across large geographic areas and over long periods, this is primarily because of the number of competent bird watchers that are willing to volunteer their time and expertise to monitoring birds.
The primary program used to monitor birds in North America is the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). The BBS started in 1966, at a point in time when the general public was greatly concerned about the health of the environment and birds were the way to monitor the environment. The BBS was one of the contributions provided by Chandler Robbins. Chandler Robbins recently passed away at 98 and was the key figure in the development and use of the BBS. (You can read more about him in this article by the Washington Post.)
The BBS has a rather simple protocol, the US Geological Service at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center randomly choose routes along rural roads. Each route is approximately 25 miles long and there are stops every ½ mile, at each stop a 3 minute survey is conducted and all birds within ¼ mile that are seen or heard are recorded. These routes are conducted from sunrise to about 9:00AM once per year. In Illinois we have 101 routes and in general they are conducted between late May and early July. While we, as a state, have improved the percentage of routes that are completed each year we still often have 8 to 12 routes that are not assigned to a person. This map provide the location of routes and which ones are available.
Why it is important
With the data collected from across North America over the last several decades, statisticians at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center use complex statistician approaches to model how the population of birds are changing. These population trend data are one of the key pieces of data used to determine conservation priorities at various organizations. For example, the US Fish and Wildlife Service use these data to determine priority species. Here in Illinois the Illinois Department of Natural Resources uses these data to help determine which species should be considered in greatest needed of conservation. Partners in Flight has recently produced a very interesting report, Species of Continental Concern, which primarily uses the BBS data.
The BBS data not only can be used to inform us about which species is increasing or decreasing, but the data provides the distribution of species. You can view Relative Abundance Maps for each species on the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Web site.
With the distribution data we can further refine conservation priorities. For example, Illinois is an important area for Dickcissel and Henslow’s Sparrow because we are in the core area of their distribution and a relatively large percentage of their population is in our state. Therefore when determining how to use limited conservation resources we can have additional data to determine where the funds should be used.
Finally, the BBS can provide the “large scale” view of how bird populations are faring. We all have our favorite areas to go bird watching, and these areas may or may not be representative of the greater population of a given species. In addition, there is a natural tendency for birdwatchers to be more interested in the rarer species. To this end many of us have noticed an increase in Henslow’s Sparrows over the last couple decades and the BBS survey also shows this increase. However, common species that are declining, often are not noticed by the casual observer. For example, if you look out your window right now you might see both American Robins and Common Grackles, both common species in the state, however their population trends are completely different. Where American Robins are exhibiting a steady increase in population, Common Grackles have been declining. Many people have remarked to me about the decline in Red-headed Woodpeckers and sadly the BBS also shows the same decline, however again species that are still relatively common such as Brown Thrashers are showing an alarming decline. The “take home” is that the BBS provides the data to accurately model the population of bird species and with these data we (the conservation community) can hopefully determine why the species is declining and then striving to either reduce or hopefully reverse the decline.
Involvement
I (Mike Ward) am the BBS coordinator for the state of Illinois and therefore one of my responsibilities is to find competent volunteers that can identify the breeding birds of Illinois by sight and sound. Luckily we have many great volunteers in Illinois, but we could use more. It is likely too late to get people signed up for the 2017 breeding season but we will need more people in 2018. Given my career, I work with BBS data often and I often get firsthand experience regarding how important these data are to the conservation planning process. For a different perspective of the BBS I asked a volunteer to provide their impression regarding the data collection process and Ray Boehmer, an IOS member from Urbana, was gracious enough to provide the following:
“I have been doing Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes for eight years, starting with one, adding another a couple years later, and then adding a third route this year. Birding is normally a relaxing, low-intensity activity for me, but doing a BBS “kicks it up a notch.” At each of the 50 stops, I have to be alert and on my toes to record every bird seen or heard. It reminds me that I am taking part in the scientific aspects of birding. I have to be as objective and accurate as possible. I really like that about participating in the BBS program.
The starting points for my routes range from 30 minutes to a little more than an hour from my house. So having to get up early is an understatement. But I have always been an early riser, so a 3 AM alarm is not too bad.
My routes mostly go through agricultural areas, with a surprising number of wooded creeks crisscrossing, providing some fairly “birdy” stops. In one 3-minute count, I managed to record 35 individuals representing 15 species. That was intense! Then quickly on to the next stop.
The people organizing, supporting, and promoting the BBS program, at both state and federal levels, are well qualified and easily accessible, making the effort on my part about as easy and smooth as I could possibly want. Recording and submitting the results are easy and user-friendly. I plan to continue participating in the BBS program as long as I can while my vision and hearing remain sharp.”
If you are interested in conducting a BBS route please contact Mike Ward.
The Illinois Spring Bird Count is here at last. For those, like myself, that look forward to this day every year, getting ready for the count can be a bit hectic. I like to think of it as preparing for that comprehensive final you might have at the end of the semester in school. With a running species list of around 350 species tabulated over the last 45 years, anything would seem possible during the count. That being said, that running list has taken many years of hard work to put together, which brings me to how the count began in the first place.
In 1959, the soon to be organizer of the Breeding Bird Survey, Chandler Robbins organized the first Spring Bird Count in Maryland. At the time 23 counties were counted in Maryland. Because these counts take lots of work Chandler could not do it alone. Mentored by Chandler at the time was a young man named Vern Kleen who had been birding since the age of seven. While compiling data for Chandler Vern learned the value of scientific data. He went on to earn a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Maryland in 1965 and then attended Southern Illinois University where he earned a M.A. in Zoology. Vern was also a multistate editor for Bird Notes for six states. Realizing how confusing it can be to try and make something out of data when there are many different projects going on using different methods Vern understood the need for consistency and connectivity among data. So when asked by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, whom he later worked for as State Ornithologist out of Springfield, to organize a statewide bird count, he realized that it would require all counties working together was what it would take to have a data set that could be used to benefit birds. With the help of Illinois Audubon Society Vern was able to recruit 650 volunteers in 62 counties and coordinate the very first SBC on Saturday, 6 May 1972. From there Vern grew the count so most, if not all, counties were counted during consecutive years. Vern continued to organize the count for over 30 years before transitioning the count to the Illinois Natural History Survey where Mike Ward and I currently coordinate.
While going out and counting birds that you hear or see is always a good time, the real purpose behind the count is to use the data to monitor birds and benefit them. Because we have over four decades of SBC data to work with we can use the data to look at population trends of birds. Are species increasing or decreasing in number, and if so, why? We can also use the data to determine range movement and distribution of birds. For instance, if an exotic species enters the state we can look at the data to see how quickly the bird colonizes throughout the state. Or if bird ranges are shifting due to changes in climate over time we would expect to see shifts in the distribution of species. We can also use SBC data to document rare or vagrant species. When you have over 1,000 volunteers out on the same day you have a much greater likelihood of documenting these occurrences. Finally, we can use the data to contribute to conservation management decisions.
We are always looking for new volunteers for the count and in a testament as to how much volunteers enjoy the count, we still have volunteers that have been around since the very beginning. Vern himself continues to contribute as a county compiler for Union county. This popular count allows birders and nature lovers alike to go out for one day and simply bird, albeit with a few stipulations. For those interested in the count, this event occurs every spring on the Saturday that falls between the 4th and 10th of May. The censuses are conducted in all 102 counties in Illinois, however in any given year a few counties are not censused. Each county has a compiler responsible for recruiting volunteers and assigning volunteers to areas to count within their county. This is especially important to avoid double coverage of an area. While the count is a fun bird-a-thon volunteers need to keep in mind that we do want to be comprehensive and cover as much of the county and its habitat types as possible. Counting common birds such as robins and blackbirds might get boring, but we can’t overlook them simply because there are an abundance of them. Volunteers record all birds seen or heard, along with the number of hours they spend “owling” (pre-dawn hours), the number of hours spent looking for birds during the day, the number of miles driven in a car, and the number of miles walked. Compilers also tabulate all data collected within their county and send it to the state compiler.
Each year SBC reports are published in the Meadowlark, a journal of the Illinois Ornithological Society. Members from IOS along with Illinois Audubon Society are a large portion of the SBC volunteer group. Please see the SBC Web site for more information and contact Tara Beveroth, if you would like to volunteer.
by Tara Beveroth
The Grant applications are in! This year we received 9 applications in all.
Grant awards will be announced the first week of May. Some funds have already been received but more contributions are needed so more of the grants can be funded. Any organization or individual may fund all or part of a Grant. Donations can be for any amount. Donors/sponsors will be recognized on the IOS web site.
Funding for the 2017 IOS grants can be provided via PayPal (using either PayPal account or credit card):
Or you can send your check made out to IOS to:
Bob Fisher
715 86th Place
Downers Grove IL 60516
With spring rapidly accelerating, now is the ideal time for a little spring migration review. But rather than focusing solely on identification, let’s look over some of what we know about migration itself, specifically its timing, its interaction with weather, and how to predict it. Being able to predict migration—of course within a margin of error—can amplify everything that makes spring migration exciting. Indeed, merely by visiting a few websites, you have the godlike power of knowing when to expect arrivals, influxes, and fallouts, and when the best time to get out there may be.
To get you started, here are five simple steps to help you become your own migration-forecasting guru:
Step #1 – Know what the atmosphere’s doing
For this, I use Intellicast’s Mixed Surface Analysis, which provides two handy pieces of information: 1) Where the frontal boundaries (fronts) and centers of air masses are, and 2) Where precipitation is happening. The atmosphere is composed of air masses, which can be rising, falling, warm and wet, cold and dry, and anything in between. These characteristics interact to make them behave either as low pressure systems or high pressure systems. Here’s the key thing to remember: low pressure systems rotate counterclockwise, while high pressure systems rotate clockwise. This means that when there’s a big “H” on the map, a high pressure center, the air is moving clockwise around it. The opposite is true for the big “L’s” on the map, low pressure centers around which air moves counterclockwise. This allows you to predict where winds will be favorable or unfavorable for migration before you’ve even checked the winds.
Having the fronts depicted brings another benefit: many migrants move ahead of or just behind fronts—if they’re going the right direction. Migrants seem to have a particular affinity for cold fronts, which tend to move faster. But if a front—and the precipitation it carries—is moving the opposite direction of migrants, they can cause migratory fallouts. Either way, keeping an eye on fronts can help you spot those critical moments when your favorite migrant traps will be the busiest with birds.
Step #2 – Focus on the winds
After you’ve ‘read’ the surface analysis map, take a look at a earth map only depicting wind. This is mostly to check your interpretation of the surface analysis map. Are the winds going the direction you predicted? The wind map should make it especially clear where conditions are favorable for migration: anywhere with southerly (from the south) winds has potential to facilitate spring movement. Tailwinds—southerly in the spring and northerly in the fall—are the name of the game, though don’t be surprised when there are exceptions! If you’re interested in forecasting migration further ahead of time than the night before, this Intellicast wind forecast is extremely useful.
Step #3 – Check the radar
Now that you know where to expect migration, and why you’re expecting that migration, is there any migration? NEXRAD radar is exactly what you need to answer this question (Check out a map of the contiguous US or any of the 3-letter stations codes on the National Center for Atmospheric Research real-time weather data map). NEXRAD stations record images from numerous locations around the country, picking up anything made of water in the atmosphere. Most of the time, this just means clouds and storms systems. But because living things are also comprised largely of water, this means that in large enough numbers they show up on radar too. During the spring and fall, this is exactly what happens with birds, which show up as blue and/or green donut shaped forms on the radar. As the blue gets brighter and then goes green through the night, migration is getting heavier. Massive, mostly green orbs on the radar means extremely heavy migration, or, in other words, that you should probably go birding tomorrow morning.
Step #4 – Check eBird and BirdCast for what to expect
While radar tells us that migration is happening, it doesn’t tell us what’s migrating. For this, I use eBird frequency charts to predict which species are arriving and influxing based on what time of year it is. Scrolling through these charts can give you a good idea of which species will be most abundant tomorrow morning, and which species might just be arriving. Even better, these charts are a handy reminder of those species that you might have forgotten to look for. BirdCast, another Cornell Lab of Ornithology project, provides succinct, regional migration forecasts to enrich what you learn from eBird charts. If there’s anywhere online to visit for condensed migration information, BirdCast is the place.
Step #5 – Get out there!
Now that you know how to read a surface analysis map, how to interpret winds, how to track migration using radar, and how to keep track of which species are moving, you have the power to predict migration. You can predict when it’s happening, explain the weather behind why it’s happening, and even name which species should be part of the mix. All that’s left now, of course, is to go apply it in the field!
by Nick Minor
On March 25, 2017, Chicago Audubon held its Biennial Environmental Awards Banquet to honor those who have made contributions to conservation, the protection of migratory birds and other wildlife, and have helped to conserve, preserve, and enhance the varied habitats and open spaces of the greater Chicago region.
Recipients included several IOS and Illinois Young Birders (ILYB) members. Congratulations to all!
Jennifer Hoffman, Mixed Media Artist and Designer, shares her poem, Homage to a Reluctant Mentor.
He was:
The mist and the fog on North Pond, while herons stood motionless at the waters edge.
The wing beats from the flocks of geese and ducks arriving over the platform.
The birdsong of warblers in the trees that were yet to be known by name.
The vibrant yellow of the Prothonotary Warbler perched by the lily pool.
The electric sunrise over Montrose, as a short-eared owl glided over the meadow.
The calm wind on the lake coming from the West on Fishhook Pier.
The unrelenting crashing of waves at Foster Beach while counting American Pipits (16).
The Sycamore Trees that protected Eastern Kingbirds fledglings and their nest.
The details in thousands of Cormorants and Red-breasted Mergansers migrating along Lake Michigan’s blue horizon.
The terns, gulls and Parasitic Jaeger drawn to the wake of a pelagic vessel.
The “magic ears” that knew the tiny specks flying high above at Loyola were Lapland Longspurs.
The long awaited Snow Goose sighting – finding the diamond in the rough of waterfowl at Lake Renwick.
The anticipated broadcast of the Trumpeter Swan at Widewaters.
The patient sunset awaiting the Sandhill Crane’s evening return to Jasper-Pulaski;
The feathers and the dance of something so ancient, yet so familiar.
Constellations in the night, waiting for the return call of the owls.
The reflection of trees on the glassy waters of the Kankakee lit by moonlight,
searching for nocturnal silhouettes: Barred, Eastern Screech and Great Horned.
So many birds that were never seen before, only to be seen and heard because of him.
Thank you.
by Jennifer Hoffman
