A peculiar thing happens one day in late February or early March in Cap Sauer’s Holding, the Cook County Forest Preserve near our Palos Park home. The chilled air will be still as the sun slips behind a ridge of century-old oak trees, creating a majestic silhouette of massive branches.
As dusk settles over this expansive woodland, a great performance is about to begin. You can barely see them, but if you listen closely, you can hear them. The guest artists–the first wave of some 7 million migrating birds that will pass through the Chicago area–have begun rehearsing their myriad melodies and courtship rituals.
As they have done for countless centuries, some will nest here; others will head as far north as the Canadian boreal forests. That’s if they are lucky. West Nile virus, bacterial and fungal infections, disease, predators, injuries, decreasing habitat, poor weather and countless collisions with buildings and communication towers are taking an unknown toll on many of the 300 bird species that call Chicago home for some part of the year.
Although gardeners, birdwatchers and others are blaming West Nile virus solely for the sudden and massive demise of crows, blue jays and chickadees, experts have other ideas.
“Many of the reported bird declines are perceptions, not reality, due to the public’s heightened awareness. While I wouldn’t say that West Nile Virus is not a factor in what appears to be decreased bird numbers of some species in some areas, there are most definitely environmental factors at play, and they are perhaps as important or more important than the virus,” says Julie Craves, scientist with the University of Michigan’s Rouge River Bird Observatory in Dearborn, Mich.
Given good weather, tens of thousands of spring migrants will fly over Chicago in one night alone. Bright lights confuse them, sending them off course, or worse, plummeting to their deaths when, attracted to the light, they strike a building or tower. Craves says an estimated 1 to 5 million birds are killed in tower collisions. “And with the proliferation of cell phones, towers are being erected at an accelerating rate.” If you can only identify the robin, crow or blue jay, you are missing out on one of life’s great pleasures. Coming soon to a woodland near you, in several small clearings amid red, white and bur oak, shagbark hickory, cherry trees, buckthorn and honeysuckle, scores of small, squatty birds equipped with short, stubby legs–male American woodcocks–will get ready to perform their nightly avian version of “Saturday Night Fever.”
A male struts his stuff before potential mates and chants a buzzy, soulful “peent.” Peent. Peent. He sports a long curved bill that appears far too big for his small head. Like a cartoon character, his hormonal alarm clock suddenly chimes, sending him spiraling upward toward the stars until he is out of sight. The return to Earth is a tumbling, freefall dive through which his chirping and the wind whistling through his feathers create the same song over and over–da da deet da da doot. Da da deet da da doot.
The aerial acrobat ends his seemingly suicidal dive seconds before hitting the ground, righting himself and landing on his feet. An impressive stunt that he and countless other male woodcocks across the Midwest perform each night for several hours after dusk during spring courtship.
The woodcock’s raspy call and flight song join the mellifluous warbling, chattering, peeping, honking and twittering of countless migrants including blackbirds, songbirds, waterfowl, egrets, herons, hummingbirds and others. Many soon will pass through northeastern Illinois now through late May when the last of the flycatchers, warblers, thrushes, vireos and sparrows pull up the ranks.
On a wing and a prayer
Carol Balabanow enjoys watching birds in her Bloomingdale yard but laments that few have come to her feeder or birdbath since August. “Our finches are way down and we haven’t had any cardinals. It’s eerie. When something is that out of whack, it just worries me.”
Bill Glass, an ecologist at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Will County, noted last fall that migrating birds were oddly quiet or absent and speculated then that we could be in for an unusual silent spring. Glass and other experts are concerned that migrating birds will pick up West Nile virus in the south and spread it on their return but they are uncertain.
“I don’t think anyone really knows what happened or what the result will be. You have to be careful about [annual bird count results] because weather conditions have lots of impact on the numbers.”
Several sources supply data, including volunteers who participate in the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count, a census that tallies species and total numbers. It also comes from nearly 17,000 volunteers who participate in Project FeederWatch, sponsored by Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y. Participants count back-yard birds each year on selected days from November through early April.
Cornell’s researchers analyze the data to determine changes in population, distribution and abundance of 100 bird species. Findings are published in scientific journals, magazines and on the lab’s Web site at www.birds.cornell.edu/.
The Chicago Audubon Society’s Christmas bird count analysis shows a dramatic decrease in the number of crows–as much as 80 percent in a five-county region in northern Illinois and Lake County, Ind.–compared to the average number counted during the same period over the last decade. The society reports that blue jay and chickadee populations are also significantly down. No other region in the country, however, has reported a significant decline in chickadees.
An imperfect indicator
Scientists are reluctant to use the annual count as the perfect indicator of a bird population’s response to the West Nile virus because the counts are taken at a time when birds may move in and out of an area.
“Bird populations go up and down and that’s expected and observed from year to year all the time. We’d expect the populations of the birds as a whole to develop a resistance [to the virus] and build back up, but it’s all speculation,” says Carl Strang, naturalist with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage.
There is a bright side. Chicago is one of the first U.S. cities to encourage dimming bright lights on skyscrapers in an attempt to protect the estimated 7 million migrating birds that pass through the Windy City.
Besides offering tips on reducing excess light, the city’s Department of Environment provides information on how to identify and track migrating birds, birding events and hot spots, landscaping for birds and much more on its Web site, www.ci.chi.il.us/Environment/BirdMigration/sub/main.html.
Conserve and protect
As bird conservation project manager for the Chicago Audubon Society, Judy Pollock’s main concern is restoring and preserving habitat. “Due to development pressures, populations are plummeting. That’s the biggest and greatest conservation concern. There is a whole suite of birds that depend on large grasslands. We want to raise awareness and we’re working to save areas.”
“If you want to do something to help birds, improve their habitat quality: provide shelter, food and water,” Strang says. And take a class or go on a bird walk. Watching and feeding birds ranks head-to-head with gardening as the No. 1 national pastime, says Jan Little of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “As a gardener, you pay attention to plants, then you look at what’s feeding on them–birds.”
Diverse habitat across 1,700 acres makes the arboretum a great place to go for a stroll and look for birds, Little says. A rare hermit warbler, the first seen in Illinois, was spotted in the arboretum pine trees in December. Birdwatching hotlines reported the sighting, which attracted flocks of curious birdwatchers hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare creature.
The arboretum created a Certificate of Ornithology program two years ago to meet the growing demand from gardeners and bird enthusiasts. “We have fascinating field trips and winter bird walks as well as morning and evening classes, but the class I love is the woodcock walk in spring. That’s when you get to see or hear them in action,” Little says.
Put out the welcome mat
Judy Pollock shares these tips for attracting birds to your back yard:
– Put seeds down on the ground in April. “That will bring a variety of migrant sparrows. It’s an easy way to start to look at different birds,” Pollock says.
– Provide water. “Particularly in May, I’ve found even a sprinkler turned down low or a [plastic] bottle with a hole that drips water will attract birds like warblers.”
– Change birdbath water every few days. “The mosquitoes that cause the [West Nile] virus are the ones you find in urban standing water. They exploit puddles of standing water.”
– Stagger plant heights. “Layering plants–from tall and understory trees and shrubs to ground covers –is No. 1 for attracting birds.”
– Diversify. “Provide a lot of different plants. Things that have fruits, seeds and flowers will attract the biggest variety of birds.”
– Don’t hurry to spring-clean the yard. “Leave dead vegetation standing and the leaves on the ground so the birds can poke around for seeds.”
– Avoid chemicals. “You don’t want to attract birds and then poison them. Don’t use insecticides.”
– Keep fresh seed in your feeders and offer suet as an extra energy entree. Suet blocks attract several species from the tufted titmouse and chickadee to nuthatches and woodpeckers.
– Place bird feeders at different heights. Sparrows, juncos, towhees, mourning doves and others often feed on the ground or on a slightly elevated feeding platform. Woodpeckers, titmice, nuthatches, chickadees, finches and redpolls prefer feeders 4 to 6 feet off the ground. Clean feeders regularly.
– Materials matter. Avoid nest boxes with metal roofs, which can cause temperatures inside the box to soar in summer.
— Nina Koziol
Birds worth scouting
Songsters/Crooners
Chickadee
Song sparrow
Tree huggers
Downy Woodpecker
Brown creeper
Aerial acrobats
Barn swallow
Woodcock
Notables passing thru this spring
Black-and-white warbler
White-throated sparrow
LEARN MORE ABOUT BIRDS
Check out these organizations for bird-watching events, classes and more:
EVENTS
“Woodcock Walk.” Two-hour program offered by The Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Highway 53, Lisle, on April 16 or23. Hours: 6 to 8 p.m. Cost: $18. To register, call: 630-968-0074, or visit www.mortonarb.org.
“Symphony of Birds.” Take a bird walk from 7:30 to 10 a.m. April 19 or 30, or May 7 or 17 at The Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Highway 53, Lisle. Cost: $22. To register, call: 630-968-0074, or visit www.mortonarb.org.
ORGANIZATIONS
Chicago Audubon Society, 5801-C North Pulaski Rd., Chicago, IL 60646; 773-539-6793; http://homepage.interaccess.com/(tilde)stephenc/.
The Bird Conservation
Network, 5225 Old Orchard Rd., Suite 37, Skokie, IL 60077; 847-965-1150; http://www.iit.edu/(tilde)cos/BCN/.
Chicago Ornithological
Society, 28 E. Jackson Building, 10th Floor-C980, Chicago, IL 60604; 312-409-9678; www.chicagobirder.org.
Illinois Audubon Society, P.O. Box 2418, Danville, IL 61834-2418; 217-446-5085; www.illinoisaudubon.org.
Illinois Ornithological
Society, P.O. Box 931, Lake Forest, IL 60045; www.illinoisbirds.org.
National Bird-Feeding
Society, P.O. Box 23. Northbrook, IL 60065; http://www.birdfeeding.org.
Project FeederWatch; call the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s toll-free number, 800-843-2473, or visit http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw.
BOOKS
“Birds of Chicago” by Chris C. Fisher and David B. Johnson (Lone Pine Publishing, 160 pages, $9.95). It includes northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.
— Nina Koziol
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‘The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds — how many human aspirations are realized in their free, holiday lives, and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song.’
–John Burroughs, ‘Birds and Poets,’ 1877
