Bird conservationists present petition calling on MPEA board to fix its bird killing building . McCormick Place has agreed to keep lights off or curtains closed for the remainder of fall migration. This needs to be the permanent during migration. news.wttw.com/2023/10/30/mcc…

BREAKING: AOS will change all English bird names currently named after people within its geographic jurisdiction—one step in an effort to address past wrongs and engage more people in the enjoyment, protection and study of birds. americanornithology.org/about/english-… #BirdNames

Went #birding at The Wetlands Initiative Dixon Waterfowl Refuge today. Beautiful day with lots of birds. 77 species including 15 duck species. Ring-necked Duck most common with 2450. 3 swan and 3 goose species. Other things of interest 7 Rusty Blackbirds, 2 pipits, 2 Pectoral Sandpipers.

Sheryl DeVore Sheryl DeVore on subtle joys of November nature around Chicago. Bird migration is winding down (although a good time for rarities), leaves are dropping from trees, but still scattered flowers, especially asters, & some insect activity. chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-c…

Great article by Ben Goldfarb on the on-going carnage from bird collisions with building windows in Chicago. biographic.com/city-of-glass/

Starting my third and last #ChristmasBirfCount of the year, Kankakee. Along Iroquois River. Just had a screech-owl at first stop.

It's getting light, cardinals are calling, owling is over. Ended with 9 Screech-Owls,and 3 Great Horned Owls on the #ChristmasBirdCount. That's a little better than average.

Ended up on Kankakee #ChristmasBirdCount with 45 species, about average. Best birds were Red-headed Woodpecker, 2 Fox Sparrows & Redhead. Entire count at 74 species, 3 above average, with one party not reporting yet. Also saw a black morph Gray Squirrel.

Doug Stotz (Douglas Stotz) with a gull specimen collection from the Field Museum.

Yesterday, an annual cold-weather tradition & as usual DBC member reunion: the IOS Gull Frolic at North Point Marina! Multiple lovely Iceland Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Horned Grebe, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, & Red-breasted Merg were highlights in the harbor. #WinterBirding

This really is a great group of people for this board; it includes my colleague from Field Museum, Laura Milkert Laura. This marks a huge important step forward for native gardening in Chicago.

Species diversity in golf courses and cemeteries inside the city are actually almost the same as forest preserves outside the city, whereas city parks have roughly half the species. Did you know we have flying squirrels in Chicago? I’ll give you one guess where you can find them.

Today's Chicago bird of the day is the Burrowing Owl. Way off track its normal range, last seen in Chicago in 2012.

Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. She started in Central America, Mexico, or the Caribbean, made it all the way to Chicago, and was needlessly killed by a Chicago window. The 4 to 6 babies she was to have will never be born.

Wasn't really thinking about swifts the way you are, but saw my 1st of spring just now over my house And you're right, it makes me happy.

BREAKING: Imani is back at Montrose!!! 📸: Matthew Dolkart

Had our first yard cicada yesterday. But many more have come out in the last 24 hours. It has begun.

Great front page story in Chicago Sun-Times by Dale Bowman about the Chicago Piping Plovers and what they have done more generally for conservation chicago.suntimes.com/outdoors/2024/…

It doesn't seem like fall to us, but it does to the birds. In less than two weeks, we have found over 100 injured and over 150 dead birds in downtown Chicago. Wednesday was a particularly difficult day, with 70 rescues and over 100 dead birds.

September 1, 2024 marks the 110th anniversary of Martha’s death, the day on which the most abundant bird in North America and the world. Author Joel Greenberg, of "A Feathered River across the Sky: The Passenger Flight To Extinction". #BirdCallsRadio birdcallsradio.com/episode-098-jo…