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.

Copyright 2025 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.