Words on Birds

The 400 Club

Membership belongs to a select few Illinois birders

(published 6-10-26)

Birders crave "accidentals," like this Roseate Tern at
Illinois Beach State Park last month, a first-in-state
record of the species. Photo by Matt Zuro.

How many times can I call in sick or leave work early without losing my job? It’s a question Bruce Heimer ponders with regularity. The Elmhurst electrician is a bird chaser. When a rare species is spotted in Illinois, one he hasn’t seen before, he’s out the door.

“Chasing” is a way of life for a select cadre of birders like Heimer who seek to grow their Illinois life list at every opportunity. Of those, a small number have equaled or surpassed 400 species—a challenging milestone that can take decades to achieve.

Membership in the so-called 400 Club is open to all, but so far fewer than 20 birders have joined. Because here’s the thing: When your Illinois list approaches 400 species, it’s hard to see anything new. Birders in such rarified air are lucky to add one or two species a year.

The Illinois official bird list totals 460 species. Of these, about 325 are “regular” in the state—generally found every year. Another 30 or so are rated “casual,” detected far less often.

That leaves about 100 species on the all-time list that are either extinct or “accidental.” Often the accidentals are first-time records, like the Great Kiskadee in Channahon in 2020, and the Broad-tailed Hummingbird in Champaign in 2023.

Roseate Tern joined the list of legendary sightings on May 23. About 75 birders hurried to Illinois Beach State Park that day to witness the vagrant seabird, an Illinois first.

For 400 Club members and wannabes, the accidentals are must-see birds. Fortunately, digital technology has made chasing them easier. The internet, smartphones, and free apps like Discord and eBird changed the game. Reports of an avian Elvis now arrive instantly.

Keeping score

Wauconda wonder: This Lazuli Bunting, a surprise
visitor from the West, was Illinois species No. 400
for two area birders and a life bird for dozens
of spectators. Photo by Stephen Hurst.

Birders of all stripes document their progress on Listers Corner, a data repository on the Illinois Audubon Society website. The category to watch is “Illinois Life List.”

The first person to report 400 species on Listers Corner did so in 2013. It’s likely, however, that several birders hit the mark sooner. We can’t know for sure, because not all birders choose to post their numbers.

We do know the 400 Club is growing. Listers Corner showed three people at 400 or more species in 2018. Today it’s about a dozen, with several birders peeking in the clubhouse window with Illinois life lists in the high 390s.

Two Chicago birders, Joe Lill and Geoff Williamson, joined the club in April thanks to a wayward Lazuli Bunting using a feeder in Wauconda. Homeowner Jan Merl welcomed birders to her yard to ogle the rare visitor, a western species.

The state’s top listers know each other well. They travel to the same places to get glimpses of the same elusive birds. Sometimes they arrive in the same vehicle, tamping down the notion that these birders are fierce rivals. The 400 Club members I contacted were all about the birds and just doing what they like to do.

Chicagoan Andy Sigler claims an Illinois life list of 420 species, and probably none is higher. A truly statewide birder, Sigler has observed at least 200 species in each of the 102 counties, itself a remarkable achievement.

This out-of-range Bewick's Wren, spotted near Chicago's
Adler Planetarium in April, offered a rare viewing
opportunity. Photo by Marky Mutchler.

“I’m more interested in motivating myself than impressing other people,” Sigler said, explaining his listing pursuits. Besides, he said, building a big state list depends mostly on having no time constraints. “Four hundred is just a number . . . It doesn’t say anything about birding ability.”

Sigler cherishes the Ross’s Gull he discovered at Cook County’s Gillson Park in 1978, the first record in Illinois and only the third in the Lower 48.

Heimer, who considers Sigler a mentor, is newer to the game. He remembers being in the 400 Club for about two weeks after bagging a Chestnut-collared Longspur in Chicago in 2024. Then came the news that Hoary Redpoll would no longer count as a distinct species, dropping him back to 399. He regained 400 last year with a Cassin’s Kingbird in Lake County.

Reaching 400 Illinois birds was a singular goal for Heimer. For others, such as Bob Fisher, a Downers Grove birder, the milestone happens naturally over time.

Fisher and his late wife, Karen, traveled throughout Illinois for birds, a shared passion. On Listers Corner, they still lead the “Buddy List” category.

“It was about the adventure,” he said. “Four hundred was not a goal but an outcome because we enjoyed chasing [rare] birds.”

Midwest birders raced to Quincy in 2015 to see
this ultra-rare Ivory Gull. Photo by Jackie Bowman.

A White-winged Dove in Kane County was Fisher’s 400^th Illinois bird and he’s since added 10 more. Karen’s total, preserved on Listers Corner, was 386 when she passed away in 2018.

Border games

Ornithological research sometimes results in changes to the official list of countable birds. European Goldfinch, for example, was declared a countable Illinois species in 2024. Birders who had already seen one got to add a bird to their life list without even leaving home. But it can go the other way, too, as with Hoary Redpoll.

Listing rules can be as quirky as the hobby itself, but birders follow a code of honor that ensures fair play. In the case of geographic borders, another human creation, listing can turn almost comical.

Joel Greenberg, a 400-clubber from Westmont, recalls a trip to the Ohio River to add Least Tern. He witnessed several but had to wait until the birds crossed the northern bank to count them as Illinois birds. The river’s airspace, he knew, is considered Kentucky.

From end to end, Illinois runs about 400 miles—a fitting distance for birders in the 400 Club, who endure long road trips routinely. Greenberg’s Ohio River experience came just after he’d driven 350 miles to check off Bachman’s Sparrow in Johnson County.

This Lewis's Woodpecker, an Illinois first, shocked
feeder watchers at Ballard Nature Center
near Effingham, in 2019. Photo by Leroy Harrison.

Although Steve Bailey now lives in Mundelein, he’s thankful that for many years his home base was Danville. Starting from east-central Illinois often helped minimize his rare bird chase miles.

Bailey fondly recalls some amazing Illinois visitors, even keeping a side list of his 38 “best birds.” Among them are Ancient Murrelet, Clark’s Nutcracker, and Northern Wheatear. He’s proud of the Curlew Sandpiper he discovered in 1986 while checking a remnant prairie pothole in Vermilion County.

Al Stokie also knows the exhilaration of finding a “mega.” He’ll never forget the Ivory Gull he spotted on a Christmas Bird Count in 1991, at Montrose Point in Chicago. “It’s the only really rare bird that I actually found myself,” Stokie said. To his relief, fellow birders soon verified the gull.

Some birds get away. When that happens, avid listers feel the pain of missing what can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Cindy Alberico, a Crest Hill resident, chased the state’s first Painted Redstart in 2022. She was on the scene at Lakewood Forest Preserve in Lake County, but the one-day-wonder ghosted her.

“It was hot and buggy and after slogging through those woods for about forever I finally convinced myself that it just wasn’t worth it. I still regret it.”

Alberico’s pursuit, it must be noted, was compromised by a bum shoulder she’d recently dislocated. Her memory brightens when recounting the Gyrfalcon she discovered in LaSalle County, in 2003, and a Black-backed Woodpecker finally viewed in Will County, in 1986. “I think I looked for that bird five or six times before I got it.”

Persistence is right up there with time and a full tank of gas when noting the essential assets of our state’s most prolific bird listers. A treasure hunter’s mentality comes in handy, too.

Members of the 400 Club, present and future, are standing by, eager to chase down our state’s next history-making bird.

Finding your wings as a birder

(published 4-22-26)

The welcoming nature of birding contributes to
its growing popularity. About 96 million Americans
watch birds, based on a 2022 federal survey--more
than double the number in 2016!

Returning readers know that I am mega-thankful for birding. As in, let-me-list-the-ways thankful. The list is real, and it keeps growing, my latest entry being “lifer dances and Lifer Pie.” Birding has a silly side.

Today I’m pondering yet another thing I love about birding, its accessibility. Entry barriers are few: anyone can enjoy the hobby on some level, in their own way.

I’ve read articles lately about how blind people are birding. So are people who can’t walk or even go outside. The hobby is open to all. It helps, of course, that birds are everywhere. We only need to look and listen.

These thoughts fluttered through my thankful head last month after returning from an exciting week of “target birding” in Southern California. It was a brand of dawn-to-dusk birdwatching I only do a few times a year—visiting new places, chasing down regional specialties, adding birds to my life list, and sharing the experience with strangers who quickly become friends.

Back home in Glen Ellyn, I still had a challenge to meet. As mentioned here before, my goal was to see or hear 25 species in the yard between New Year’s Day and the first day of spring. I tried this in 2025 and failed badly. On the bright side, one of my 18 species was a flyover Bald Eagle, not an easy yard bird.

Trying new experiences helps us discover what aspects of
birding we enjoy most, a process I call "finding our wings."
My wife took this photo of me in Palm Springs, Calif.

This year I aced the test, tallying 28 species thanks to final week visitations by Blue Jay, American Tree Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and Brown-headed Cowbird. Sandhill Cranes were in the air, too. The only expected bird I missed was Great Horned Owl.

(To review, a “yard bird” is any bird seen or heard when you have at least one foot on your property. That means you can count birds high in the sky or perched in a tree down the street. A “yardie” is any new addition to your yard list. Sometimes, a yardie is also a lifer, like my first Pine Siskin in 1998.)

Completing my winter yard challenge was a kick. I worked at it, looking and listening more closely. I also put an old tactic to work, tossing handfuls of mixed seed on the ground in strategic places. It paid off, even though it killed me to make life easier for the House Sparrows and squirrels. I’m continuing the practice this spring in hopes of enticing a Brown Thrasher or Eastern Towhee.

This is all to say that birding offers many ways to have fun. Seeing a bunch of new birds in California was a blast, but so was upping my yard game during winter’s final days. Home or away, I’m a happy birder.

I hope that goes for you, too. But besides a happy one, what kind of birder are you? What kind of birding do you enjoy most? What kinds of bird-related activities bring you joy? It’s worth considering.

I confess to getting carried away writing about lifers and listing milestones and Big Days and Big Years and rare bird chases and stakeouts—aspects of the hobby that interest me. But I appreciate that no two birders are alike.

All birders do not arise at 5 a.m. All do not use the Merlin app. Some don’t even keep a life list. Imagine that!

Birding offers myriad pathways for engaging with
the hobby. The ones we choose shape us as birders
and define our connection with birds.

We need all kinds of birders, from extreme and serious to casual and part-time. Young and old. Able-bodied and physically challenged.

Members of our tribe have much in common, of course, starting with curiosity about birds. We also share a desire to connect with nature. Birding provides that connection, which is good therapy these days.

How you engage with the hobby is personal. Birding can be as challenging or as easy as we care to make it. That’s part of what makes it so accessible.

Whatever approach you choose, there’s nothing wrong with having a routine. Bird on, and bird as you wish. It’s all good! But I urge you to keep an open mind about new birding experiences. You might uncover different aspects of the hobby that make it even more fulfilling.

For me, that’s been writing, giving talks, supporting bird conservation, and traveling to new places. For others it could be photography, studying migration, or leading field trips.

It can take a while to find our wings, but we gradually identify what kind of birders we are or aspire to be. If we’re lucky, as I believe all birders are, it’s a journey of discovery that never ends.

SoCal birding trip strikes avian gold

California Condors by Joe Demko

(published 3-25-26)

You know it’s a big and important bird festival when you stroll through the exhibit hall and see other bird festivals hosting tables. If you like this festival, you’ll like ours too! Let us show you some new birds! That’s the basic pitch, and it applies to the birding tour companies on exhibit as well.

Birders, when not outside watching birds, can be observed inside plotting their next big trip. I was one of them last month, attending the 30^th annual San Diego Bird Festival. The display belonging to Canopy Tower and Lodge held me captive (by choice) for 15 minutes. Panama is high on my travel wish list.

Adam Sell (left) and Josh Engel

California was in my dreams last fall when I registered for the festival and a pre-festival adventure with Red Hill Birding, a 10-year-old Chicago-based tour company. The five-day “Condors & Corvids” tour would visit habitats north of Los Angeles to experience special birds not found in the San Diego area.

Red Hill founder Josh Engel and Adam Sell guided our group of 12, leading us to well-scouted birding hot spots in two extra-tall passenger vans. Often the less scenic spots paid off too, such as our first pullover, a rest area just north of San Diego. The prize, my lifer Allen’s Hummingbird, proved again that for birders a bathroom break can be productive in more ways than one.

Refreshed, we continued north in search of our first major target species, California Condor. The guides knew exactly where to go, of course, a key reason for hiring a tour company. But even with huge birds like condors, sightings are never guaranteed.

We got lucky. Really lucky. Four of the majestic flyers materialized in the high hills of Los Angeles County, a site Josh and Adam had been monitoring via eBird in recent days. Condors glided directly over us, close enough to read their numbered tags. Then they came back and did it again. To say the least, the show surpassed our expectations. Did Red Hill train these birds?

Yellow-billed Magpie by Albert Lau-Chang

I’d seen California Condors once before, by myself, at the Grand Canyon. Seeing them this time was even better because I was sharing the experience with new birding friends, all of us appreciating the rare spectacle above.

California Condor once came within an eyelash of extinction and is critically endangered. We visited the “hack site” where the first condors from a controversial captive-breeding program were reintroduced to the wild in 1991. Four years prior, the population numbered just 27 birds, all in captivity. About 300 condors are flying free today.

Our condor quest complete, we turned to the family of birds known as corvids, which includes crows, ravens and jays. Common Raven was ubiquitous throughout our tour. But the corvids we most coveted were two California endemics: Island Scrub Jay and Yellow-billed Magpie. Both are found nowhere else in the world.

Island Scrub Jay by Joe Demko

The magpie occupies a wide swath of central California. We encountered several along a country road in Santa Barbara County. Yellow-billed Magpie is a handsome bird, large and vocal like its black-billed cousin. With my most-wanted trip species secured, I breathed easier as the vans headed west toward the Pacific.

In the morning we boarded a tour boat in Ventura Harbor for a one-hour ride to Santa Cruz Island, part of Channel Islands National Park and the exclusive home of Island Scrub Jay. The bird practically greeted us upon arrival, as did the endemic Island Fox, a cutie no bigger than a house cat.

Allen's Hummingbird by Dexter Patterson

Back on the mainland, a few harder-to-find species tested the “fieldcraft” of our guides. The guys met the challenge, delivering good views of LeConte’s Thrasher, Bell’s Sparrow, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, and Tricolored Blackbird. Three memorable raptors—Golden Eagle, White-tailed Kite and Prairie Falcon—added to our bounty.

I was impressed with Red Hill (redhillbirding.com). Adam and Josh excelled at efficient bird-finding, applying their experience and next-level ID skills. They hustled, too. It’s amazing how fast a professional guide can stop a vehicle, set up a spotting scope, and get a bird in view for clients. It’s an underrated superpower.

Southern California supports an array of “exotic” or non-native bird species. We located two at Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino: Red-whiskered Bulbul and Yellow-chevroned Parakeet. The bulbul is a looker with a song to match. I’d searched for it before, in Miami, without success.

The Red Hill tour ended back in San Diego, 143 total species later and just in time for opening night at the festival. I crashed early, anticipating the next day’s “Birding on the Border” field trip, key targets being California Gnatcatcher (yes) and Ridgway’s Rail (another happy yes).

On the Mexican border, watching California Gnatcatchers

Before leaving town, I had some free time at the hotel on Mission Bay. Fellow birders told me they’d seen Swinhoe’s White-eye on the grounds, a tiny non-native with a fast-growing local population. With coffee in hand, I began looking around. Soon, a yellowish comet landed about 30 feet away. Stay there, stay there, hold still . . . wow, that bird is wearing little white goggles!

Somehow I’d found a bird on my own, a lifer no less. I savored this modest achievement before heading to the airport, concluding my own “biggest week” well before the first day spring. It felt like cheating.

Bird Joy podcasters Dexter Patterson (left)
and Jason Hall

Listen up: 10 podcasts for birders

(published 2-18-26)

Until recently, listening to a podcast was a now-and-then thing for me. Now I can’t get enough. Podcasts about birds and birding are my new toy.

Getting hearing aids was a catalyst. When I reluctantly acquired them in 2024, I didn’t appreciate their full utility. I knew that I might hear the birds a little better but using the aids as a wireless connection to my smartphone was a bonus. Accessing music and podcasts via Spotify is easy. Why wasn’t I doing this sooner?

Below is an annotated list of my favorite shows so far, a solid 10-pack. I’m trying my best to keep up with new episodes and play ones I missed. Interviews with birding community personalities and authors are my biggest weakness.

The American Birding Podcast, produced every Thursday by the American Birding Association, features newsy updates and lively bird chat with expert guests. ABA’s Nate Swick, host of the podcast from its beginning in 2016, is engaging and properly obsessed. Recent show topics: best bird books of 2025; inside the success of Cornell’s Merlin app; and a brief-but-fun segment about weird bird stuff inside our homes. Episodes start with a rare bird report, reminding us of birding’s unpredictability.

Talkin’ Birds stands apart from other podcasts because it begins as a live radio program every Sunday morning. Ray Brown, the affable host, started the 30-minute show in 2006. And it really is a “show,” complete with commercials, sound effects, and regular features like Featured Feathered Friend and a brief Q&A with Mike O’Connor from Bird Watcher’s General Store. The heart of each episode is Ray’s interview with a special guest, a role I was honored to fill in November. Talkin’ Birds sends out a conservation vibe that further unites the show’s loyal community of listeners.

Mindful Birding podcasters Holly Thomas (left)
and Holly Merker

The Mindful Birding Podcast promotes the wellness benefits of watching birds. It’s a warm, generous, and calming program that might just change your approach to the hobby. Hosts Holly Merker and Holly Thomas, along with well-chosen guests, discuss the importance of slowing down and fostering a heightened “in the moment” awareness of birds and nature. Get started at themindfulbirdingnetwork.com.

The Bird Joy Podcast, started in 2024, is perfectly named. Enthusiastic hosts Dexter Patterson, based in Madison, and Jason Hall, from Philadelphia, share a joyful message about getting outside, birding as we wish, and sharing nature with others. Importantly, they are helping expand the hobby in non-white communities with honest conversations about equal access and inclusivity. This show presents birding as a connector with life-changing potential, where we are all “homies” with a common bond.

Life List: A Birding Podcast is a freewheeling, loosely structured biweekly conversation between three prominent birders: George Armistead, Alvaro Jarmillo, and Mollee Brown. All three guide worldwide birding tours so travel is a regular theme. The podcast, now in year six, is lighthearted and “proudly nerdy” as advertised. The well-connected hosts also attract all-star guests. A recent episode with the filmmaking brothers behind “Listers” is required listening.

Will Keller (left) and Caleb Putnam

I didn’t know about The Real Birding Podcast until recently and I’m glad I found it! The hosts, who mostly call each other “dude,” are Will Keller (perched in North Carolina) and Caleb Putnam (in Michigan). Their birdy banter is a nice mix of entertainment and education with useful tips. I like their forays into birding culture, such as a recent episode about social media’s impact on the hobby (and the Discord app in particular). This is also a video podcast so, if you wish, you can watch the boys talk shop.

Backyard birders should check out Nature Centered from the retail chain Wild Birds Unlimited. Podcast host Brian Cunningham delivers professional advice on upping your yard game to develop a closer connection with birds and nature. The show is not overly commercial despite its connection with WBU. Recent guests were authors Amy Tan (“The Backyard Bird Chronicles”) and Holly Merker (“Ornitherapy”).

Warning: the Spark Bird Podcast is addictive. Actually, so are the other podcasts mentioned here. But this one is all interviews with people inside the birding community, some quite famous. Hosts Jenn Lodi-Smith and Janet McNally start by having each guest describe how they got into birding. The “spark stories” alone are interesting and the follow-up conversations often reinforce how birds can become a career focus and lifelong passion. The podcast extends The Spark Bird Project, a community science initiative headed by Lodi-Smith and supported by the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, N.Y. You can register your own spark bird story at spark-bird.org.

Hannah and Erik Go Birding is a practical resource for birders who travel. The hosts—a bird-obsessed married couple from coastal Oregon—love a fun adventure, not to mention good food and local beer. Their podcast, born in 2018, usually recaps a recent trip to a birding festival (where they serve as guides) or some other birding hotspot. Hannah operates two other excellent podcasts under the Go Birding umbrella: Bird Nerd Book Club and Women Birders Happy Hour.

Finally, for a quick fix, BirdNote Daily is essential. The two-minute public radio show aims to “give listeners a momentary respite from the news of the day,” delivering inspired storytelling about birds and conservation. You are guaranteed to learn something. Miss today’s piece on NPR? No worries, just cue the podcast where you can play multiple episodes back-to-back. BirdNote’s logo, a Varied Thrush, reflects the show’s Seattle origin in 2005. Now it’s heard around the world.

Happy listening, and I hope a few of these podcasts become a regular part of your birding life.

Horned Lark by Jackie Bowman

Birding on a lark

(published 1-28-26)

There are roughly 750 kinds of birds in the United States. So, what are the chances that one of them, Horned Lark, would grace the covers of two major birding magazines this month? Not only that, each cover—Birding and BWD (formerly Bird Watcher’s Digest)—features a painting, not a photograph, of foraging larks in the snow. One species, two artists, two magazines, same month.

Birding can be a little slow this time of year so I’m probably way too excited about such an unlikely occurrence in ornithological publishing. That said, I’m gaining a new appreciation for Horned Lark, a ground-hugger on view now in farmland throughout the Midwest.

Take a drive in the country and larks should not be hard to find. Watch for small and sometimes large flocks on roadsides and bare agricultural fields. In winter, they often congregate with Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings.

I will not offer a full Horned Lark profile here—the two magazines have that covered. But I must put in that the bird does not have horns. It shows little feather tufts that look like horns, a trait it shares with Great Horned Owl on a tiny scale.

Birding is the flagship publication of the American Birding Association (aba.org). Horned Lark is on its cover because it is ABA’s 2026 Bird of the Year. A new species is announced every January, a fun tradition that began in 2011. Last year’s avian celebrity was Common Loon, a highly popular choice.

The honor of creating the Bird of the Year cover went to Kristina Knowski, an artist I’ve mentioned before. She is the longtime artist-in-residence at the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival, designing that event’s much-anticipated annual poster and supporting illustrations.

Kristina is a Hoosier now, living in Porter, but I remember when she and her mom Sue attended Cantigny Park bird walks in Wheaton. At the time, about 15 years ago, I had no idea she was looking at the birds with an artistic eye and probably thinking more about feather structures and postures than where the turkeys were hiding. Her work is beautiful (kristinaknowski.com).

The BWD cover, painted by Alex Warnick, also depicts Horned Lark, the issue’s feature species. It’s a good read about a common species I’m happy to know better.

Two other articles in BWD caught my eye. One is about the Spark Bird Project, a community science survey launched by Jenn Lodi-Smith, a birder and psychologist based in Buffalo. The project is collecting stories about how people get hooked on birds and birding. It’s not a trivial thing—the information gathered can lead to ideas for bringing even more people into the growing hobby.

Hundreds of stories about “spark moments” have been submitted so far. Want to tell yours? Go to spark-bird.org/stories. Check out the Spark Bird Podcast, too!

Author and birding personality Pete Dunne contributes the “Pete’s Tip” column in BWD and I never miss it. His latest is about another listing game we can play as birders. “Month listing,” Dunne writes, is “challenging, engaging, and rewarding,” and it motivates us to get outside throughout the year.

Simply start a list of all the birds you see or hear each month, keeping 12 separate lists. Every new species counts on a month list, even if you’ve seen it before. Dunne cites Great Blue Heron as an example—easy to find in July, but can you spot one in February?

Month listing can improve your awareness of birding’s seasonality, too. Knowing what to expect and look for at different times of the year is useful.

Pine Siskin by Jeff Reiter

At home, I always keep a year list. It’s like doing a Big Year but just in the yard. My best was 88 species in 2007. Eighty or more is good for me. Like most endeavors, the more time devoted the better the results.

Last year I mentioned a goal of seeing 25 different birds in my yard between New Years Day and the first day of spring. I failed miserably, reaching only 18, but I’m trying again. It seems possible if I pay better attention. Small groups of Pine Siskin have stopped by this month, a welcome surprise considering I hadn’t logged a siskin at my feeders since 2021.

My late-winter travel plans include the 30^th Annual San Diego Bird Festival. I’m especially juiced about a guided pre-festival tour with Red Hill Birding, a Chicago-based company. Our group of 12 will be scouring Greater Los Angeles for regional specialties like Allen’s Hummingbird, Island Scrub-Jay and Yellow-billed Magpie. I’ll report back!

2025: Birding year in review

(published 12-26-25)

Snowy Owl by Nick Paarlberg

When I became serious about birding in the 1990s, I wasn’t thinking about milestone birds. Then they started creeping up. The first biggie was No. 500, a Varied Thrush in Evanston. And before that, my 100^th yard bird, a Common Yellowthroat.

In 2025, lifer No. 600 got in my way, a Dusky Flycatcher at Rocky Mountain National Park. While not a flashy-looking bird, it’s one I’ll remember.

As a new retiree I traveled more in 2025, opening a window to exciting first-time birds. All were special, but perhaps none more so than a Golden-cheeked Warbler in the Texas Hill Country. Black-capped Vireo, found the same day, was up there, too, as were Red-tailed and White-tailed Tropicbirds in Hawaii a few months earlier. Oh, and that Lucifer Hummingbird in Arizona. You get the point: It was a fun year!

Snowy Owl by Elizabeth Schissler

What were your “best birds” of 2025? Even if you stayed close to home, opportunities to view uncommon and rare species were abundant.

This review of the 2025 birding year is by no means comprehensive—that wouldn’t be possible. I try to keep up but birds are always flying under my radar. My goal is to present a sampling of the remarkable variety of avian life found throughout Chicagoland during the calendar year. Best of all, most of the birds named below will be back in 2026! It’s never too late to begin a life list.

Snowy excitement

Area birders were treated to a snowstorm Thanksgiving week, and I don’t mean the cold, flaky stuff. Before the real snow arrived, a surprise pair of Snowy Owls, early for the season, captivated hundreds of viewers on the Chicago lakefront at Montrose Point. For six days, owl mania swept over birders, photographers and curiosity seekers, with only a few reports of misbehaving spectators. Chicago Park District posted signs and placed barriers to help protect the arctic celebrities.

Powder blue, not white, was the operative color in April when a stunning Mountain Bluebird flew into town. Found in Humboldt Park by Chris Holden, it was the first record of the species in Cook County, possibly the most-birded county in the United States.

Mountain Bluebird by Matt Zuro

The bluebird flitted around Chicago, visiting several parks and giving the chasers fits. Four days after the initial discovery it stopped by Montrose, becoming species No. 353 on the uber-hotspot’s site list. No. 354 would arrive in August, a Broad-winged Hawk. First-time sightings at Montrose are rare indeed, and 2025 produced two!

Another worthy Bird of the Year candidate was the Cassin’s Kingbird spotted in May at Illinois Beach State Park in Lake County. Found by Eric Johnson, it was the third state record of the species which, like the bluebird, apparently strayed here from the West.

Reports of a Rufous Hummingbird during Thanksgiving weekend shifted the birding community’s focus from the lakefront to Naperville. A friendly homeowner opened his backyard to birders who speculated that the Western hummer might attempt a winter stayover.

Cassin's Kingbird by Nat Carmichael

Even with a heat lamp installed, survival odds would be slim. Readers might recall that 2025 began with news of a frozen Anna’s Hummingbird in Bureau County. That bird, nicknamed Frosty, spent three months in the same backyard until a brutal January cold snap ended the dream.

Birders are pulling for a Summer Tanager in Brookfield, too. The migration-averse songbird was still visiting a backyard feeder in mid-December.

Other notable sightings

Before citing more of the region’s avian standouts, I should mention a few species that were unusually accessible in 2025, such as Trumpeter Swan, Red-necked Phalarope, Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Northern Mockingbird. All were observed in multiple counties and over multiple days.

Rufous Hummingbird by Santo Locasto

Birders had just 48 hours to catch the Kirtland’s Warbler in Chicago’s Olive Park (near Navy Pier). Woody Goss found it on May 15. A Vermillion Flycatcher at Sag Quarries in Cook County, ID’d by Lili Duan, proved a one-day wonder.

A state-record 81 Hudsonian Godwits landed briefly on the beach at Montrose on August 12, one week after 17 godwits flew over Morton Arboretum. Nice work by Carl Alston at the Arb—truly a heads-up sighting!

Additional Montrose treasures included Barred Owl, Saw-whet Owl, Least Bittern, Piping Plover, Red Knot, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Loggerhead Shrike and Kentucky Warbler. Red Phalarope was an amazing find by Alex Haza near Lake Calumet.

Kirtland's Warbler by Matt Zuro

A Western Tanager appeared at Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area in early May, just the second on record for Kendall County. Ryan Jones sounded the rare bird alert. Another Western turned up at Robinson Woods Forest Preserve in Cook.

European Goldfinch, a “easy” bird in Lake County, delighted watchers in Oak Brook during November. At least three birds were present.

Also in DuPage, a lone Black-bellied Whistling Duck rested at Lincoln Marsh, and a Little Blue Heron visited McKee. Fermilab gave up Western Cattle Egret and Yellow Rail.

Upland Sandpiper and Say’s Phoebe were tallied at the Greene Valley hawkwatch site in Naperville. Fall season totals for the hardy hilltoppers included 114 Bald Eagles, seven Golden Eagles, 13 Rough-legged Hawks, and one Mississippi Kite. Hats off to Jeff Smith for counting on the hill for a retina-searing 85 consecutive days!

Additional goodies

Western Tanager by Ryan Jones

The Lake County hawkwatch at Fort Sheridan reported American Goshawk, Swainson’s Hawk, and Golden Eagle, among other migrating raptors. Solid finds at Illinois Beach State Park included Swallow-tailed Kite, Loggerhead Shrike, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Harris’s Sparrow. The season’s first Purple Sandpiper visited Winthrop Harbor on November 15.

Tri-colored Heron was another Lake County hottie, found at Trumpet Road Marsh in late April by John Sikora.

The Miracle in Monee, that junk-food loving Great-tailed Grackle, appeared for the fourth straight year. Will County also yielded Red-necked Grebe, Black-necked Stilt and Snowy Owl.

Kane County featured Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Eared Grebe, Upland Sandpiper, Eastern Whip-poor-will, Townsend’s Solitaire and Western Meadowlark. Kane’s prime hotspot, Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve, hosted Common Gallinule (nesting), Red-necked Phalarope and American Avocet. Fifteen Tundra Swans flew over the preserve in November while a Northern Harrier hunted the marsh below.

Tundra Swans by Helen Chow

Evening Grosbeaks appeared around the region in recent weeks, stoking hopes of a winter invasion by this declining finch from the north. Watch your feeders! See the official winter forecast at finchnetwork.org.

A Kelp Gull summered in Milwaukee, prompting road trips by Illinois birders. The species has never been detected in Illinois. Some veteran watchers predict it will be our state’s next first-time visitor.

Another chase-worthy bird appeared in downstate Madison County in April, a Fork-tailed Flycatcher discovered by Julie Bryson.

Some 2025 birds were too good to be true, like the Tri-colored Blackbird reported at Morton Arboretum, and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Rockford. A Gambel’s Quail in Glenview was the real deal but was quickly dismissed as an escaped bird. Where it came from remains a mystery.

Another freakish sighting occurred in Lincoln Park. While playing frisbee Kaitlyn Tran noticed an odd bird walking around in the open grass. Her pics clearly show a Yellow Rail. Insane!

Birds in peril

Massive federal budget cuts and a move to weaken the Migratory Bird Treaty Act wreaked havoc on bird conservation efforts in 2025. The Endangered Species Act and, most recently, the landmark National Environmental Policy Act, are also under attack. These bird-negative developments are ill-timed to say the least.

The 2025 U.S. State of the Birds Report, released in March, called out the need for more, not less, attention to declining bird populations. Some 229 species, in fact, require urgent conservation action, the report said, including 112 “tipping point” species that have lost more than 50 percent of their populations in the last 50 years. Among them: Bobolink, Chimney Swift, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow and Wood Thrush.

Red-necked Phalarope by Peter Tolzmann

Little steps to protect resident and migratory birds can make a difference. We learned in early 2025 that dotted bird-safe film applied to windows at Chicago’s McCormick Place resulted in a huge reduction in bird collisions during fall migration.

Lake County made news in July, becoming the nation’s first municipality to enact a bird-friendly local building ordinance for residential construction, including single-family homes. The county adopted requirements for commercial buildings in 2024.

Chicago Bird Alliance (CBA) launched a pilot study in 2025 to test bird-safe contraceptive rat control as an alternative to rodenticides. The aim is to demonstrate an effective alternative for rat control in Chicago to protect urban hawks and raptors. In 2024, a family of Great Horned Owls in Lincoln Park died from rat poison.

Milestones and other news

CBA’s second Urban Birding Festival in September was even bigger than the first, with 670 birders from three countries and 18 states attending. Some 145 species were spotted during festival weekend, with $3,373 raised for Bird Friendly Chicago.

DuPage Birding Club celebrated its 40^th anniversary, and The Wetland Initiative turned 30.

Illinois Audubon Society announced a merger with Illinois Ornithological Society in March. The transition to a single organization under the IAS banner is ongoing.

Yellow-headed Blackbird by Stephen Hurst

Two conservation stalwarts received the 2025 Force of Nature Award from Chicago Wilderness Alliance: Joe Suchecki, long-time site steward and bird monitor at Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve in Naperville; and Brook McDonald, CEO of The Conservation Foundation. Congrats to both!

Kudos as well to Bob Dolgan for curating an excellent summer exhibit at Chicago’s Newberry Library: “Winging It: A Brief History of Humanity’s Relationship with Birds.”

Eddie Kasper and Isoo O’Brien tied a 26-year-old Cook County Big Day record on May 23 with 165 species. The two twenty-somethings have been doing big days together since age 13.

The 2025 Illinois Big Sit, held in September and sponsored by Illinois Audubon, attracted 41 teams and 132 participants. First place went to “The Empire Shrikes Back” with 81 species ID’d from their designated count circle at Clinton Lake.

Birders we’ll miss

The birding community is remembering Bob Andrini, who passed away in November. A friendly and a gifted educator, Bob guided Kane County Audubon for more than 20 years as president. He no doubt inspired dozens of new birders and conservationists during his nature-filled life.

Jeff Sanders, a veteran Chicago watcher and the first to officially log 400 species in Illinois, left us in October.

Tony Fitzpatrick, Chicago’s beloved bird man, artist and poet, also passed. I remember meeting him at the American Birding Association’s Bird of the Year reveal party in 2020, in Berwyn. Tony was the featured artist, and I still think of him when I see a Cedar Waxwing. I’m keeping my signed poster.

Promoting the hobby

Besides seeing new birds in faraway places, 2025 was my year to publish a book, “The Best of Words on Birds” (Eckhartz Press). For those who purchased a copy, thank you, and I hope you’re enjoying it.

The book is my way of spreading the joy of birding and hopefully nudging more people into the hobby. But I’m just one little ambassador. In 2025, several high-profile personalities gave a boost to birding whether they meant to or not. Ariana Grande, for example, revealed that she’s a big fan of the Merlin Bird ID app!

Football great Peyton Manning starred in a US Bank commercial with a birdwatching theme. A popular Netflix series called “The Residence” featured a detective (the main character) with a passion for birding. And the actor Lili Taylor published “Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing,” which followed Amy Tan’s 2024 bestseller on the wonders of backyard birding.

I can’t forget “Listers,” the documentary (free on YouTube) that’s created quite a buzz since its August release. The film about extreme birding is crude in parts but I found it captivating, funny, and spot on.

Our hobby is now firmly in the mainstream, and that bodes well for its continued rapid growth. We can always use more birders, because birders care the most about bird conservation.

Let’s all consider the birds in 2026—enjoy watching them, learning about them, and support them however you can. Here’s to a new year of memorable sightings, with long, unobstructed views.

Brash, blue and beautiful

The charismatic Blue Jay livens up backyards and forest preserves like no other songbird

(published 11-26-25)

Blue Jay by Jackie Bowman

It’s November, so I should be writing about the Wild Turkey. No thanks, too cliché. Besides, the fall issue of Audubon beat me to it with a piece called “Let’s Talk Turkey”—a fine article with a predictable headline.

Let’s discuss Blue Jays instead. In all my years of writing “Words on Birds” this is a first. Hard to believe, really, considering how much I love the species. I even have a son named Jay! (I love him, too).

Jays seem to be unusually abundant this fall. In the neighborhood and during a recent trip to New England I heard and saw a ton of them. Multiple jays in some places qualified as a band, a party, or scold.

A scold of Blue Jays seems perfect given the bird’s loud and raucous nature. It doesn’t sing, it shouts. Like other members of the corvid family, including crows, the Blue Jay is conspicuous, except during breeding periods when it goes silent.

Audubon's Blue Jay painting depicts the
species as a nest-raiding bully, but eggs
and nestlings are not part of a jay's
regular diet. (Courtesy John James
Audubon Center at Mill Grove,
Montgomery County Audubon
Collection, and Zebra Publishing.

You know the bird’s signature call, a harsh “jay, jay!” that carries far and wide. The call may serve as a warning to fellow jays and other birds that a predator is near, such as a hawk, owl or house cat.

Blue Jays perform a wide variety of creative vocalizations. If you hear something odd and unfamiliar it’s often a jay. Their vocal talents include mimicry, with hawks being a specialty. Look around if you hear the scream of a red-tail—a mischievous jay might be messin’ with ya.

The jay’s vibrant plumage features a striking combination of blues, violet, black and white. When I was a kid, a Blue Jay tail feather was a coveted find. I saved them, of course, not knowing it was illegal!

It’s a wonder to me that such a common and beautiful species as the Blue Jay was never claimed as a state bird—a missed opportunity to be sure.

Perhaps the jay lost a few votes owing to its bully reputation. No doubt it’s The Boss at backyard feeding stations. When the 11-inch Blue Jay comes swooping in the smaller birds scatter. Red-bellied Woodpecker is usually the only customer to hold its ground.

John J. Audubon’s dramatic Blue Jay painting (circa 1830) depicts the species raiding a nest and feasting on egg yolks. Some believe jays have endured an image problem ever since. While Blue Jays will indeed consume eggs and baby birds—robin nests are especially vulnerable—studies show that such proteins are not a regular part of their diet. Insects, nuts and seeds are their staples.

Jays are famous for caching food for later use, acorns in particular. The habit is believed helpful in the replenishment of oaks and other mast-producing trees. Jays, while highly intelligent like other corvids, can’t remember every place they bury a nut.

The hybrid "grue jay" in the middle photo resulted from a Blue
Jay (left) mating with a Green Jay (right). Courtesy, from left:
Travis Maher, Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library;
Brian Stokes/University of Texas at Austin; Dan O'Brien,
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Macaulay Library.

If you have feeders, Blue Jays prefer cracked corn, suet, sunflower seeds and peanuts in the shell. A platform feeder is ideal, and jays are drawn to birdbaths, too.

We see Blue Jays in the Chicago region throughout the year. They do migrate, but seasonal jay movements are variable and not well understood by researchers. Range expansion is happening into the Pacific Northwest, where the dominant jay species is Steller’s, the only other crested jay in the United States. The two occasionally interbreed.

In September, we learned about a “grue jay” discovered in Texas, the offspring of a Blue Jay father and Green Jay mother. Ornithologists think climate change played a role, pushing the Green Jay’s range northward as the Blue Jay expanded west. Range overlap now occurs in the San Antonio area, where the hybrid bird was spotted and briefly captured for study.

To learn more about Blue Jays and listen to their wide range of calls, visit AllAboutBirds.org, a free resource provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

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