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.

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.

Copyright 2025 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.

Why do we watch birds?

We all have our reasons, but the “Seven Pleasures of Birding” is a good start

Great Blue Heron by Glenn Kaupert

(published 9-24-25)

During a recent book talk I mentioned the three questions I hear most often: What’s the rarest bird you’ve ever seen? What binoculars should I buy? And, How did you get into birding?

Today I’m going to tackle the last one, but with a twist. There is a difference between what got us started in the hobby and what keeps us going.

Readers of this column already know my “spark bird,” a Hooded Warbler spotted in 1994. That bird launched my obsession. Maybe it happened that way for you, too—a certain bird caught your eye and fast-tracked your interest. Or perhaps it was a special person who ushered you into the hobby, a book such as “Kingbird Highway,” or a movie like “The Big Year.” Origin stories are fun to retell, especially among fellow birders.

But let’s consider something even more basic: Why we watch birds.

Author and celebrity birder Christian Cooper has devoted considerable thought to the issue. His “Seven Pleasures of Birding” capture the essence of birdwatching’s mass appeal:

1. The beauty of the birds
2. The beauty of being in a natural setting (connecting with nature)
3. The joy of hunting, without the bloodshed (birding as a treasure hunt)
4. The joy of collecting (keeping lists)
5. The joy of puzzle solving (making difficult IDs)
6. The pleasure of scientific discovery (new observations about behavior, etc.)
7. The Unicorn Effect

These seven points provided structure for Cooper's 2023 book, “Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World.” But he drew them up well before his New York Times bestseller.

I first learned of the Seven Pleasures in 2006 through the late Marie Winn, herself a celebrity author/birder (“Red-Tails in Love”). She was birding with Chris and others in their beloved Central Park (New York) when Cooper mentioned a list he’d written that sums up the joys of birdwatching. Marie requested a copy, which she then shared with the birding community.

Cooper’s email to Winn closed with this: “If you get tired of people asking you, ‘Why do you go birdwatching?’ as I eventually did, these [seven points] are handy to whip out.”

Great Gray Owl by Matt Zuro

I can picture his tongue in cheek. As one of birding’s biggest cheerleaders, I doubt that Cooper ever grows weary of discussing the hobby’s virtues. Just the opposite, his Seven Pleasures function as an intriguing conversation starter.

Going deeper, I think the list encourages thought about what aspects of birding are most important to us. We all approach the hobby differently.

In my new book, “The Best of Words on Birds,” a central theme is that we should bird the way we want to, the way that feels best. Find your style and enjoy every experience.

You might agree with each of the Seven Pleasures. Or maybe all but one or two. Keeping lists, for example, might not be your thing. Perhaps you would add a point, such as the joy of sharing birds with others.

Personally, I would tweak point No. 6 and call it the pleasure of learning. Watching birds is always an opportunity to learn something, scientific or not.

With his last point, The Unicorn Effect, Cooper said he saved the best for last. I couldn’t agree more. Here’s the way he explained No. 7 to Marie Winn:

Worm-eating Warbler by Jackie Bowman

“After you’ve been birding for even a little while, there are birds you’ve heard of or seen in books that capture your imagination, but you’ve never seen for yourself . . . and then one day, there it is in front of you, as if some mythical creature has stepped out of a storybook and come to life. There’s no thrill quite like it.”

Anybody disagree? I didn’t think so.

I tell stories about my own “unicorn birds” in the book, including Great Gray Owl and Worm-eating Warbler. My second-in-life encounter with Elegant Trogon last month in Arizona gave me a similar thrill. (Now that’s a spectacular bird!)

I write about the unicorns found by others, too, like Jeff Bilsky’s Painted Redstart in 2022, and Dan Lory’s Ross’s Gull in 2023. Those birds didn’t belong around here, and yet there they were, in plain view.

Birding seems to always deliver if we have curiosity and patience, and belief in the possible. The pleasures are real.

Copyright 2025 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.

Gem collector

Naperville’s Denis Kania is going places, often in search of exotic hummingbirds
 
(published 8-13-25)

Denis Kania by Diann Bilderback

This month I’m heading to southeast Arizona in pursuit of birds—hummingbirds, in particular. It’s the best time of year for it, despite the heat. I hope to raise my hummingbird life list to 14 or 15 species.

 
Don’t be impressed. Today you’ll meet a guy who has seen 237.
 
Denis Kania is fairly obsessed with hummingbirds. The 70-year-old Naperville resident retired in 2018 after 18 years managing natural areas for the St. Charles Park District. Since then—and really since 1996, when he first traveled to South America—he’s been keen on the family of birds known for their brilliant iridescence, enchanting names, and mesmerizing flight.
 

Bee Hummingbird by Manakin

Often called “flying jewels,” it’s only fitting that more than 50 hummingbirds bear the name of a gemstone.
 
The family totals 367 species, all residing in the Western Hemisphere. You won’t find hummers in Africa, Asia, Australia or Europe.

“I don’t have dreams of seeing them all,” Kania told me recently, and he doubts that anyone has or ever will. But it’s a safe bet that few people have seen more varieties of hummingbirds than Kania.

 
Fewer than 20 species breed in or occasionally visit the United States and Canada. Just one, Ruby-throated, is common east of the Mississippi River.
 
To experience great numbers of hummingbirds, you must travel. Kania travels a lot, organizing and leading trips around the world in partnership with Field Guides, a leading birding tour operator. He’s been to 30 countries, building a life list of well over 5,000 birds.

Marvelous Spatuletail by George Scott

Ecuador—home to about 132 species, according to the Hummingbird Central website—is a favorite destination. Kania has birded the country 10 times, most recently in 2018. On that trip he observed a head-spinning 65 different hummers, but none were new to his life list.
 
In April, Kania went hummingbird hunting in Cuba for the first time. He had two targets and located them both: Bee Hummingbird—the world’s smallest bird, at 2-and-a-quarter inches long, bill included—and Cuban Emerald. Both are island endemics.
 
Costa Rica, Colombia and Peru are sweet spots, too. Kania will head to Peru for the third time in 2026 with a wish list of 10 species, the most coveted being Marvelous Spatuletail. The latter, highly endangered and restricted to a small zone in the Andes, is best known for its long tail feathers with “racquets” at their tips (see photo).

Snowcap by Jiri Vlach

When asked about the rarest hummingbird he’s ever seen, Kania recalled a Black-breasted Puffleg observed in Ecuador in 2002. Fewer than 200 individuals are believed to exist in the wild. Unfortunately, about 10 percent of all hummingbird species are classified endangered; leading threats are climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use.
 
On a happier note, you can visit certain eco-lodges in Central and South America and watch a nice variety of hummers as you relax on the veranda and sip good coffee. Nectar feeders are arranged just for that purpose. But those are the “easy” species. Not all hummingbirds visit feeders, Kania notes, and some exist only in remote, hard-to-reach places. Even if you get there, nothing is guaranteed.

Coppery-headed Emerald by Mike Warner

Kania gained three species on his last visit to Costa Rica, in 2023. One of them, Mangrove Hummingbird, proved an exercise in frustration. Three boat rides into the mangrove swamps produced views of the little whizzer but none very satisfying.
 
As watchers know, some birds allow us better looks than others. We take what they give us.
 
Hummingbirds are giving Kania a lot, and he’s thankful. The scintillating birds, and his travels, clearly bring him joy. He’s excited about the chance to reach species No. 250 next year, with the Peru trip and another to Dominican Republic already booked.

Reaching 300 species in his lifetime, Kania admitted, would be a stretch.
 
“The problem is it gets harder and harder to find places where you have concentrations of hummingbirds,” he said. “Most of the trips I have in my future will result in only one or two new species.”
 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird by CarolinaBirdman

Kania is a teacher at heart, happy to share his knowledge about birds and birding. He instructs at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle (going on 30 years) and is active with the DuPage Birding Club. He gives popular lectures on hummingbirds that cover the family’s amazing diversity, including colors, sizes, feeding strategies, and habitats.
 
During the pandemic, Kania launched a series of “mini-tutorials” on the bird club’s YouTube channel. One is about enjoying hummingbirds at home. To watch, go to dupagebirding.org or search Attracting Hummingbirds on YouTube/DuPage Birding Club.
 
Now is an excellent time to hang a feeder as our local population of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds peaks before fall migration. Backyard feeders with fresh sugar-water help the birds build energy for their journeys to the southern U.S., Mexico and Central America.

Copyright 2025 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.

DuPage Birding Club going strong at 40 years

(published 6-25-25)

Celebrating 40: Club members gathered to bird and picnic at
Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville on June 14. 

My family moved to Glen Ellyn from Chicago in 1997. Right away I joined the DuPage Birding Club (DBC), and 12 years later I took a turn as club president.

I’d be overstating things to say the club changed my life. But it certainly elevated my involvement with birdwatching, a pursuit I’d begun taking seriously just before migrating to suburbia.

Through DBC I rapidly learned more about birds and made new friends. By attending the club’s bird walks, I became a better birder, spotting birds I never knew were possible and exploring the region’s best places to find them. Before long I was sharing the hobby with others by leading walks and writing this column.

I guess you can tell I’m thankful for the club’s formation 40 years ago.

It was late 1984 when a dozen birders gathered in a College of DuPage classroom to discuss the idea of starting a club. At a second meeting, also at COD, the name DuPage Birding Club was chosen, and club bylaws were adopted. The date was January 14, 1985. Within two years the club boasted 109 members. Membership today surpasses 350.

Club records list 23 founding members, and nearly half are still active. I contacted several of them and other long-time members to collect their thoughts about the club on its 40^th anniversary. How, I asked, does DBC survive and continue to grow?  And what makes it special?

Invariably, club veterans point to those bylaws. From the beginning, club rules ensured a rotating leadership team, supporting the notion that new leaders bring new ideas. DBC presidents, for example, may only serve one year. Board members also have limited terms.

Innovation encouraged

Diann Bilderback, a two-time past president, credits the planned turnover for keeping DBC fresh. In just the last few years, she said, “New leaders have introduced a YouTube education channel with almost 90 tutorials, a book club, an online Birding Adventures series for travelers, and novel field trips such as Bike ‘n Bird, bird sits and evening outings.”

Bringing good ideas to fruition takes a small army of volunteers, a key ingredient in DBC’s secret sauce. About 50 members regularly devote their time and talents. Jobs include planning and leading field trips, giving talks at schools and libraries, booking guest speakers, organizing events like club picnics, maintaining the website (dupagebirding.org), and publishing the monthly newsletter. Serving on the club’s board of directors implies an even deeper commitment, and yet new hands go up every year. 

“I look at the role of president as a great opportunity for whoever takes the reins,” added Denis Kania, a founding club member and birding instructor at Morton Arboretum for 29 years.

Kania was DBC’s president in 2020. The club responded quickly and responsibly to the pandemic, conducting meetings via Zoom and taking the needed steps to enable bird walks to continue.

The YouTube tutorials began during this time. Kania narrates most of them, sharing information and tips about birding basics, binoculars, migration, helping birds, birding by ear, bird ID, and other topics. Homebound birders had plenty to watch and learn from, and the excellent videos continue to draw viewers.

Club membership hit record highs during the pandemic years as public demand for safe, outdoor activities skyrocketed. Fascination with Merlin, the sound ID app from Cornell, also ushered new birders into the hobby. Birding was suddenly cool!

It still is, of course, and DBC membership remains well above pre-Covid levels. The club is ever mindful, however, that birders have options.

“With so many online educational and social media resources available, a bird club is just one of many ways to connect with the birding community and learn about birds, which was not the case in 1985 when DBC was founded,” said Bilderback. “But bird clubs do one thing better than online resources: they provide the social network that enhances the birding experience. It’s fun to bird with others, share experiences, and learn from each other.”

Seeing more birds, together

Most DBC members, I believe, would agree that organized field trips are the club’s main attraction. About 100 are offered per year, plus special field days like the Christmas Bird Count.

DBC offers about 100 guided field trips per year.

Birding in a group can especially benefit new birders who may need help with identifications and “getting on the bird.” Walk leaders enjoy sharing their knowledge as do others who join the walks. Beginners needn’t feel intimidated and there are no “dumb questions.”

Current club president Thelma Hulka well remembers her earliest field trips with DBC, more than 20 years ago. She was a fledgling birder and happy for some expert company.

“I think one of the main strengths of the club is that members are welcoming to new birders,” Hulka said. “On any walk, if a new person is there, you’ll hear the regulars offering up pointers and encouragement. Birders are just nice people!”

Bob Fisher and his late wife Karen were Hulka’s mentors, taking her under their wings as she put it.

DBC schedules frequent outings to birding hot spots throughout the region and beyond. Last month, 20 club members attended the Biggest Week in American Birding, a major festival near Toledo, Ohio. Last year the club traveled to Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin.

DBC’s regular meetings (eight per year) provide additional opportunities for socializing and learning. Featured guest speakers are generally from the Chicago region, but the club occasionally imports a nationally known “rock star.” Famous visitors have included George Archibald, Pete Dunne, Kenn Kaufman, Sandy Komito, Phoebe Snetsinger, Don and Lillian Stokes, and Scott Weidensaul.

Field guide authors Don and Lillian Stokes visited DBC in 2011.

The club once connected with Roger Tory Peterson, too. The late author and artist attended the second Midwest Birding Symposium held at College of DuPage in 1991. DBC and founding member Hal Cohen (who taught birding classes at COD) launched the event in 1989 and it took off. According to Jody Zamirowski, another DBC founding member and past president, more than 800 birders attended the inaugural symposium and even more showed up two years later to hear and meet the legendary RTP.

Meaningful motto

Nearly all DBC events are “open door,” with nonmembers welcome to attend. This year, in what must be kismet, the club adopted a new home for meetings: the College of DuPage, where it all began in 1985, in a much smaller room. Meetings previously took place in the basement of Faith Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn, for the past 30-plus years.

Birding is fun, and the joy it delivers is primary to DBC and other clubs in the region (see chart below). But the hobby has a serious side, too, reflected in DBC’s motto, Birding with a Purpose. Members are encouraged to get involved with projects that benefit birds, such as nest-season monitoring and other “citizen science” activities. Raising public awareness about birds and how to help them is another priority.

The club’s Grants & Donations program earmarks about $3,000 annually for student scholarships and conservation projects. Funding comes from member dues ($20/year), private donations and a popular auction event held every two years.

This happens to be an auction year! Plan to attend on October 9, 2025. All are welcome—DBC membership is not required. It’ll be a fun night and your chance to take home birding gear, bird art, books, gift baskets, special field trip experiences, raffle prizes and more.  

Visit dupagebirding.org for more information about Auction Night, field trips and how to join the club.

Copyright 2025 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.

Birding on the border

South Texas festival delivers special birds and experiences for all who attend

(published 4-23-25)

Birding at King Ranch in Kingston, Texas

My trip to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival was a self-bestowed retirement gift, fulfilling a desire to experience one of birding’s premier annual gatherings. More directly, it was my chance to finally do some serious birding in Texas. Special birds were calling, some available nowhere else in the United States.

Last November’s RGVBF was the 31^st annual, an amazing run. Few festivals surpass it for longevity. Few if any can match it for hospitality, organization and scope. It’s an extraordinary production driven by more than 100 volunteers and supported by the City of Harlingen, Texas, which clearly values ecotourism. I was among 526 paid attendees.

Green Jay by Stephen Pollard

The city’s convention center is festival headquarters, a short drive from Valley International Airport. A large mural in baggage claim features a man with binoculars watching a Green Jay. I’d come to the right place.

In fact, shortly after landing I was checking Green Jay and Plain Chachalaca off my life list at Hugh Ramsey Nature Center in Harlingen. The brief solo visit was my festival appetizer.

Great Kiskadee by Trinity Swan

RGVBF’s format is typical of most such events: half- and full-day field trips led by professional guides (76 were in Harlingen); a large travel and merchandise expo; heavyweight guest speakers; silent auction fundraiser; and daily social events.

Festival days are long and yet end too soon. You’re on a birding bender with like-minded friends, most of them new.

Registration begins in August, with birders locking in their preferred field trips. The options are numerous—more than 150 trips—and as a first-timer I felt a bit overwhelmed.  Thankfully, Tracy Zervos came to my rescue. The festival registrar (a Wheaton native!) helped me select five outings that in combination would maximize bird variety. Her guidance was invaluable.

The birds, fellow birders, and birding venues set the field trips apart. Every day was exciting and memorable. A few highlights:

Ringed Kingfisher by Dedick Hail

Birding on the Rio Grande. From our oversized pontoon boat, occasional glimpses of the border wall on the Mexico side of the river and passing border patrol vessels made for an interesting birding environment. But nothing could distract us from the birds, and this was a wonderful way to view them. Among the notables were Altamira Oriole, Gray Hawk, Groove-billed Ani and Tropical Kingbird, plus three varieties of kingfisher: Belted, Green and Ringed. Green Jay and Great Kiskadee were abundant.

After the boat tour we stopped at Quinta Mazatlan, a 20-acre urban sanctuary in McAllen. Highlights included Clay-colored Thrush, Olive Sparrow and Buff-bellied Hummingbird. Butterflies were a big attraction here, too, including Mexican Bluewing, my new favorite. The National Butterfly Center is just down the road in Mission and is home to the Texas Butterfly Festival, also in November.

Kenn Kaufman

Birding with Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman. My second day afforded the rare opportunity to shadow the hobby’s best-known couple. Kenn was on hand as RGVBF’s keynote speaker but signed on to lead a few trips as well. Good planning (Tracy) placed me in a van heading to South Padre Island with Kenn in the front passenger seat and Kimberly at the wheel. The eight of us behind them felt lucky to be along, and we’d soon feel a bit more confident about shorebird and gull ID thanks to Kenn’s beachfront commentary. He doesn’t lecture, he guides, with a relaxed style that makes learning fun. Birding is a hobby, after all.

Big Day competition. The record shows that I was on the winning seven-person team, with a head-spinning 158 species seen or heard between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. across Hidalgo and Cameron Counties. To be fair, the record should also note that I was surely the least valuable team member. But what an experience—Alex and Chris, pro guides from Wildside Nature Tours, were outstanding. Their advance scouting, local knowledge, and brilliant ID skills keyed our victory. I’m still wondering how they found that cryptic Common Pauraque resting on leaf litter at Estero Llano Grande State Park. The bird, similar to a whip-poor-will, was difficult to spot from just 10 feet away, even when pointed out!

Altamira Oriole by Patti Langen

Searching for Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl at historic King Ranch. We boarded an early bus, destined for a famous place with a famous bird. The stakeout was only partly successful, but at least we heard the little guy. America’s largest ranch (825,000 acres) also yielded three other coveted species: Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Sprague’s Pipit and Zone-tailed Hawk. The Texas Indigo Snake was cool, too.

Parrot Palooza! Yes, this was the actual name of a popular late-afternoon outing in Harlingen. Turns out the city is home to colorful flocks of roving Green Parakeets and Red-crowned Parrots. Our group found the parakeets (about 30) on the wires outside a Whataburger and got funny looks from customers in the drive-through. The good smells tempted us to place orders of our own. But we needed to move on to the next stop, a church parking lot across town.

There, like magic, 80 parrots arrived at their roost within two minutes of when our leader predicted they would. Watching (and hearing) them come in was a fun ending to the day.

Roosting Great-tailed Grackles in Harlingen

The grand total bird count for the festival was 298 species, a new record. I witnessed about half of them, tallying 16 lifers along the way.

Before closing I must mention the Great-tailed Grackles. Loud, massive flocks of the big blackbirds gathered outside my hotel and up-and-down the street every evening. The impressive roosting behavior dictates caution when walking under the overloaded trees and utility wires. Luckily, I avoided a goopy disaster.

Don’t let the grackles keep you away. If you haven’t birded Texas, or haven’t birded “on the border,” think about adding the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival to your travel plans. The 2025 event is set for Nov. 5-9. Get details at rgvbf.org.

Copyright 2025 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.

Hot bird news for a cold winter

Door County's White Wagtail by Matt Zuro

(published 2-19-25)

Alert readers of the print edition noticed a puzzling photo caption in my last column. When writing about gull identification it’s a good idea to identify the gulls in the photo properly. And I didn’t! Sorry about that.

If permitted an excuse for my blunder, I’ll go with the birds of Hawaii. They distracted me. For a birder, one of the fun things about traveling to new places is the prep. I spent hours in January studying the avian possibilities in Honolulu and on the island of Kauai, creating a target list of birds to watch for.

I’m back now, and the feathered citizens of our 50^th state are still distracting me. Birding Hawaii is full of surprises. I read somewhere that Hawaii is the United Nations of birds and it’s true. So many alien species mingling with the natives—such an interesting mix.

But today’s column is not about my tropical vacation. Upon returning to our cold, gray winter—just in time for National Bird Feeding Month—I started catching up on the news. Bird news, that is. These items were noteworthy:

• The $1.2 million of bird-safe window treatments installed at McCormick Place last fall is paying off quickly. Bird collisions during fall migration were down an estimated 95 percent thanks to the dot-patterned film now covering 120,000 square feet of glass. Kudos to McCormick Place owner Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority for doing the right thing. The Field Museum of Natural History, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Bird Friendly Chicago all played key roles in the project.

Short-tailed Shearwater on Lake Michigan by Tarik Shahzad

• Tarik Shahzad, a 27-year-old from Evanston, set the Cook County big year record with 294 species in 2024. His record-setter was an eye-popper: the state’s first Short-tailed Shearwater. The bird flew over Lake Michigan when it should have been over the Pacific Ocean!

• Northern Mockingbird is still a “southern species,” despite its name. We see a few in the Chicago region during the summer as their range continues to expand northward. Spotting one here in the winter is a rare opportunity, however, so a mockingbird at Hidden Lake Forest Preserve in Downers Grove attracted birders throughout January. The hearty mocker is probably still around, and most likely the same bird that shared the preserve last fall with a wayward Sage Thrasher.

• A now-famous Great-tailed Grackle is present for the fourth consecutive winter in Will County. It remains loyal to the Amazon warehouse parking lot and Thornton’s gas station just off I-57 in Monee. For birders who keep year lists, a drive to Exit 335 is now an annual routine.

• Harlequin Duck, a handsome male, continues to show well at North Point Marina and State Line Beach in Lake County.

• 

  The ill-fated Anna's Hummingbird in Princeton, IIlinois.
  Photo by Mike Warner.

  If heading north, you might as well keep going. The bird of the winter (so far) is in Door County, Wisconsin, the state’s first White Wagtail. First spotted on December 28 at Portage Park, it was still there in early February. Primarily a European species, I saw my first White Wagtail in Ireland many years ago, where it’s called Pied Wagtail.

• Remember the Anna’s Hummingbird in Princeton, the little town in Bureau County? The thirsty wanderer found a backyard feeder in late October and refused to leave, visiting daily into the new year. Sadly, the courageous hummer perished on January 14. Homeowner Scott Harp was an excellent host—for the bird (nicknamed “Frost”) and for the dozens of thrill-seeking birders he welcomed for nearly 90 days. It was Illinois’ second record of Anna’s Hummingbird, a western U.S. species.

• 

  Common Loon by Steve Huggins

  Common Loon is American Birding Association’s Bird of the Year. Those wishing to see lots of loons without leaving Illinois should check the Chain O’Lakes area of Lake and McHenry counties in late March and early April. Migrating loons visit the region on their way to northern breeding grounds. Channel Lake in Antioch would be a good first stop, where you’ll probably see American White Pelicans, too. For lunch or dinner, stay on theme at Looney’s Pub just down the road.

• Gull expert Amar Ayyash, featured in my last column, headlines the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival, speaking on May 17. The festival runs May 14-18. Get details and register at indunesbirdingfestival.com. Indiana Audubon founded the thriving event in 2015.

• The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County plans a grand opening celebration at DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center (formerly Willowbrook) on June 5. A major expansion and upgrade project at the Glen Ellyn facility is set for completion this spring.

I saved the most self-serving news for last: I’m working on a book called “The Best of Words on Birds,” coming this summer from Eckhartz Press. I’m excited and having fun getting it ready—a solid retirement project. More details to come.

So, the birds of Hawaii have not been my only distraction. But trust me, I’ll be more careful with the photo captions. As I learned in Birding 101, keep your eye on the bird!

Copyright 2025 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.