A24 and its heron family need all the help they can get. These wading birds are declining across much of their historic range in the U.S., and are listed as a special-status species in 11 states. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Mike Ward says the number of breeding colonies has dropped dramatically over the last 30 years as critical wetland habitats have been destroyed or degraded by agricultural and urban development.

“Continued anthropogenic disturbance has caused long-term colonies to be abandoned,” added Brad Semel, Illinois Department of Natural Resources endangered species recovery specialist. “This has been particularly true in Illinois, where the species has been listed as state-endangered since 1977. The single remaining major rookery is located at the Lincoln Park Zoo near downtown Chicago.”

Since the birds’ arrival in the Lincoln Park area in 2007, biologists with the zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute have monitored the colony closely. They say it appears to be flourishing despite the inherent risks associated with nesting in a highly urbanized area. Henry Adams, UWI’s wildlife management coordinator, said over 300 breeding pairs fledged more than 400 chicks in 2023.

While Black-crowned night herons have a long history of urbanizing in North America, researchers don’t know exactly why this colony has been so successful in Chicago. They’re hoping to learn more about the herons’ habits — what they eat and where they spend time in the city — to help maintain that success. A big part of sustaining the colony’s health is ensuring high-quality habitat beyond city limits, along the birds’ annual migratory route. But until recently, researchers could only guess where they went.

That’s where A24 comes in.

Researchers at U. of I. teamed up with scientists from Lincoln Park Zoo and IDNR to unlock the secrets of the herons’ success in Chicago and beyond, leading to better-informed conservation strategies for the species. During the project’s pilot season in 2023, the team attached seven satellite transmitter “backpacks” onto adult and juvenile birds, including an individual dubbed A24, and banded an additional 20+ herons born that year. The transmitters collect GPS points of each tagged bird’s location every hour.

“So far, these transmitters have shown us that birds are utilizing a wide variety of natural and human-made water bodies across the cityscape, some of which are hydrologically influenced by Lake Michigan while others are managed by state and public agencies,” said Ward, Stuart L. and Nancy J. Levenick Chair in Sustainability in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at U. of I. “We hope to triple the number of tagged birds in 2024, significantly increasing the scale of this program and enhancing our knowledge of the behavior and ecology of the heron in the Great Lakes region and along their migratory routes.”

Data collected from birds tagged during the 2023 breeding season are starting to provide some fascinating insights.

“A24 went on a particularly interesting journey after leaving Chicago in late July 2023,” said Sarah Slayton, an NRES master’s student working with Ward. “After the bird completed the breeding season, it surprisingly departed to the north and ended up spending several months fueling up for migration in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In mid-September it began its weeklong southern flight down to Florida, ultimately settling on the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Brighton Reservation in Glades County.”

The selection of the Brighton Seminole Reservation was a smart move for A24, as there are extensive ongoing natural resource management efforts on the Reservation. The Seminole Tribe of Florida lands span more than 90,000 acres in one of the nation’s most sensitive, ecologically important areas of the Everglades.

“The Tribe holds a unique relationship with the environment, where connections with the landscape and ecological communities are culturally significant. Diverse habitats and wildlife have sustained the Tribal communities throughout Seminole history by providing food, shelter, and medicinal resources,” said Kari Eckel, the Tribe’s environmental science manager. “The Seminole Tribe continues to take pride in managing natural resources for not only the benefit of Tribal communities, but in support of the sensitive wildlife and ecological communities which comprise the greater Everglades region.”

A24 has just returned to Chicago after its arduous 1,500-mile journey from the Seminole wetlands. The research team will continue to analyze its movement data to identify and evaluate the quality of the habitats it selects throughout the year.

“This project really illustrates the coordination needed to conserve our migratory birds,” Ward said. “Whether it is volunteering to help clean up a wetland, leaving an area on your property for wildlife habitat, reducing the use of pesticides, or contributing to conservation organizations, we all can help protect our migratory birds and ultimately our environment.”

This research is made possible with the support of the Bird Conservation Network, Chicago Black-crowned Night-Heron Project, Chicago Park District, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Audubon Society, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Environmental Resources Department.

Sources:
Mike Ward, mpward@illinois.edu
Sarah Slayton, slayton4@illinois.edu;
Henry Adams, hadams@lpz.org;
Liz Lehrer, llehrer@lpz.org;
Brad Semel, Brad.Semel@Illinois.gov;
Karli Eckel, KarliEckel@semtribe.com

News writer:
Lauren Quinn, 217-300-2435, ldquinn@illinois.edu

Date:
June 10, 2024

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The Illinois Audubon Society 2021 Spring Gathering has been redesigned for 2021 and rescheduled for Saturday, May 1. Everyone is invited to take part in a Chapter Big Day Competition and a Zoom program that evening.

Saturday Evening Zoom Program:

Scott K. Robinson, Ordway Professor of Ecosystem Conservation, will present Balancing Science and Birdwatching: A Personal Journey during a Zoom program from 6-7:00 pm on Saturday, May 1, 2021. Scott’s career in avian ecology has spanned many disciplines, including community ecology, landscape ecology, demography, and behavior. Much of his work has occurred in temperate forests of New England and the Midwest and tropical rainforests in Peru.

As director of the Ordway Lab of Ecosystem Conservation he oversees a large group of graduate students pursuing research in tropical landscapes throughout the world. Scott is an avid birder and has held the ABA North American Big Year record (1976), and was twice a part of a team that set the World Big Day record (1982 and 2018).

Chapter Big Day Competition:

Chapter Big Day is a competition between participating chapters of the Illinois Audubon Society for the most species observed in a 16-hour period (12:00 am to 4:00 pm). Registration is open to members and non-members and both a Chapter and an Individual Big Day Champion will be awarded. Competitors may bird alone or with others anywhere within the boundaries of the State of Illinois.

All participants must register online and choose their Chapter “team.” Each Chapter will have a coordinator who will receive, tally and report their final numbers no later than May 4. Winners will be announced shortly after.

Click here for a complete schedule of events and to register for the evening zoom program and Chapter Big Day Competition.

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Irruptive species come south when their food source has been depleted (due to drought or some other event). Other irruptive species are also showing up in unusual numbers. The scientific name for the pine siskin is carduelis pinus: carduelis comes from the Latin word carduus for thistle (of which they eat a lot), and pinus also from the Latin meaning pine, which is a favorite nesting place for them.

Some of the field marks for the pine siskin are: heavily streaked underparts, yellowish tail and wings, forked tail and tiny bill.

In past years we have had small number of Pine Siskins, but this year we have had consistently 26 – 35 birds. They gather at the thistle feeders, and often are seen bickering with one another over feeding location.

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The scientific name for the greater white-fronted goose is  Anser albifrons: Anser is Latin for goose, albifrons is Latin for ‘white forehead’ (you can see where it gets its name from these photos).

Field marks for these birds include: grey brown overall, orange beak and feet, and white around the bill and on forehead.

They may travel with the Canada goose, but are smaller in size. They are also called the ‘speckle bellies’ due to the mottled coloration on their bellies. The call is different from that of the Canada goose is sort of a high-pitched laugh.

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The scientific name for the red-necked phalarope is Phalaropus lobatus: Phalaropus comes from the Greek meaning ‘coot foot’ (in reference to their lobes toes like those of a coot) and lobatus, also from the Greek meaning lobe of the ear (again in reference to their toes). Reverse sexual dimorphism is shown in these birds as the female is the more brightly colored of the species.

The summer and winter plumage of these birds is quite different as you will see in the pictures below. One of the behaviors that people enjoy is watching them feed – they spin around like a top – round and round. They are creating a ‘tornado’ of water that draws invertebrates to the surface where they can eat them.

Winter field marks for the red-necked phalarope include: thin black bill, white underparts and dark broad band from eye to ear – the spring plumage the female includes having a chestnut brown stripe on neck with white throat.

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Field marks of the cedar waxwings are the black triangluar ‘mask’ around the eye, yellowish belly, a crest and yellow band at the tip of the tail – they also show ‘red drops’ on their wings.

Their main food source are berries, and when they find a food source, MANY waxwings will arrive and feast on the berries. They have also been seen feeding each other (often during courtship). If there are enough berries in the area, they will spend the winter. The tip of their tail may not be yellow, but also orangish – probably due to their food.

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The male will build many nests once on territory, and the female will choose the one to nest in. These ‘dummy’ nests may be used as dormitories later in the season.

Some of the field marks of the sedge wren are: faint eye-brow, streaked back and bicolored bill. They have a typical wren like rattle call that sounds somewhat like a sewing machine (as I said before, to be a birder, you must have an imagination).

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Fournier is a quantitative wetland ecologist and ornithologist working on questions around wetland birds and wetland management as the Director of Forbes Biological Station, with the Illinois Natural History, Prairie Research Institute and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She completed her PhD with the Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Arkansas in 2017.

Her statement submitted for consideration of the award reads as follows:

Managing Public Wetlands for Multiple Wetland Birds

We have lost many of our wetlands globally, despite their importance for cleaning water, absorbing heavy rains, and providing habitat for plants and wildlife. Many remaining North American wetlands have been cut off from the natural patterns of flooding and drying by the leveeing of major rivers. These wetlands require active management to maintain healthy wetlands. Part of active management is the intentional flooding and drying to mimic natural floodplain patterns. The timing of drying and flooding is especially important to make sure habitat is wet when the animals need it, since habitat available after a migratory bird has left, doesn’t help that species.

Wetland managers often try to balance many needs, such as providing habitat for migratory birds and opportunities for humans to hunt or birdwatch. Meeting all these needs can be challenging, especially without complete information about the outcomes of different choices.

Conversations with wetland managers in Missouri, USA, led us to answer the question ‘How do two groups of wetland birds who migrate at different times respond when we flood wetlands earlier in autumn migration?’ We found that rails, who migrate earlier, use earlier flooded wetlands earlier more than wetlands which are dry during their migration. Ducks, who migrate later, had no difference between earlier or later flooded wetlands, as both had water during their later migration.

Being able to flood earlier to provide habitat for rails without a hurting ducks is a win-win for the birds, and the people who enjoy and wish to conserve them.

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The scientific name of the great horned owl is Bubo virginianus: Bubo is Latin for a horned owl; and virginianus is Latin for Virginia from where the type specimen was found.

Great horned owls are common is Illinois and when they are courting, the male and female will call back and forth to each other. If you listen closely to the calls, you can tell the male (with the deeper voice) from the female.

Since the owls cannot digest fur and bones, they will regurgitate a pellet – these may be found under trees where the owls perch. The ‘ears’ you see in pictures are not actual ears, but feather tufts.

Pictures below were taken by Bob Andrini in March 2020.

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We had been out all morning looking for winter birds and came home just at the ‘right time’. Walking into the dining room and looking at our feeders, we noticed a very whitish bird feeding with the American goldfinches – and with binocs identified it as a European goldfinch.

The field marks are unmistakable: red face; black on top of head and back of neck; yellow wing bar. I had just enough time to snap about 8 pictures before the birds all flew off. This happened one other time for us (right time, right place) when another European goldfinch visited us exactly 10 years ago in January.

In 2003 the first sightings of these birds started appearing in Illinois. The best guess was that they were released caged birds. Since that time, they have set up breeding populations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.

Keep your feeders full and keep and eye on them and you might also get a pleasant surprise. Below are pictures taken in 2010 and this week – in the recent pictures the bird was on the wrong side of the thistle sac and didn’t allow a good view.

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