West Nile may be largely under control in human circles, but the story is far from over for one of the virus’s most susceptible creatures; American Crows.
Read the latest of Dan Lory’s Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region. This week’s post is about a bird with with a tale involving royals and tidal flats, the American Avocet.
“There are no loons near us now, though people occasionally try to convince me that one was spotted on the golf course reservoir near the dam where the pontoon boats are docked. But there are other birds to be sought from between the gunwales of a canoe, birds that have tenaciously persisted upon some of the most heavily transformed landscapes on earth.”
Birder You Should Know has been a long running series with COS in our newsletter. Get to know our birding community with these short interviews. This month, meet Christina Harber!
It’s not every day that with a stroke of a pen we can have a dramatic impact on local conservation. But such a rare opportunity has presented itself. COS is excited about the tremendous opportunities for bird conservation if the Vote Yes for Clean Air, Clean Water, and Wildlife ballot measure passes.
Read the latest of Dan Lory’s Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region. This week’s post is about a bird with a typo in its name, the Clay-colored Sparrow.
“It’s not a statistically meaningful concept; there’s no field for it on eBird, and it’s probably not in the latest field guide or app with sonograms and silhouettes. You won’t find it on the Cornell website, though King David leaned on it and Aldo Leopold knew that without it there could be no land ethic.”
“Would I be the only newbie on the walk? Would I be judged for my banged-up binoculars? Would there be a quiz?” Lauren Kostas on some of the questions that may nag a new birder and how to jump with both feet into the wide world of birding.
Chicagoland was recently graced by an ultra-rare visit from a Painted Redstart! This Central American species paid a brief visit to become the first such sighting in Illinois, but hung around long enough to delight some speedy birders.
Gershwin famously wrote “Summertime, and the living is easy.” Not so at LaBagh—it is packed with a long to-do list! So far this summer, dedicated volunteers have tackled a multitude of important tasks during thirteen workdays in June and July.
“There seem to be bird people, and plant people: the ecological gardener who appreciatively inspects the yard, and yet is unfamiliar with the birds that dwell there. Gardening for birds is one way to bridge this divide.”
This summer, Chicago Ornithological Society launched a new volunteer monitoring program to track, study, and conserve the Common Nighthawk. In a few short weeks, the COS team created a unique new monitoring protocol and cobbled together a crack team of about a dozen volunteers to pilot this new program.
Read the latest of Dan Lory’s Thursday thoughts on birds of the Chicago region. This week’s post is about the importance of talking to yourself… and also Short-eared Owls.
In 2017 Ted Wolff set an audacious but fun goal for himself: bird every county in Illinois and record more than 100 species in each. We spoke with Ted to understand what motivated the landscape architect and avid birder to take on the challenge and to hear tales from the journey.
