birding...

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis ©Rick Cameron http://racphoto.com/rick.html

Illinois' unique geographic location combined with its geologic past creates conditions ripe for a rich and diverse landscape, and thus, a rich and diverse bird life. The state spans 378 miles, and as a result, bird life varies greatly from the top to the bottom of the state. Northern Illinois attracts irruptive winter species such as Northern Shrikes and Snowy Owls, while southern Illinois, with its cypress swamps and hilly terrain, is reminiscent of a Louisiana bayou.

A natural boundary between the moist forests in the eastern United States and the drier prairies of the West passes through Illinois. Situated along one of the nation`s major flyways, the Mississippi, Illinois is bounded on the west by the Mississippi River, the east by Lake Michigan and the Wabash River, and the south by the Ohio River, perfect entry and exit points for migratory and breeding birds. Illinois attracts massive numbers of migrating waterfowl, shorebirds (waders); loons (divers); raptors, and passerines including an astounding passage of warblers in spring and fall. The state also hosts one of the largest wintering populations of Bald Eagles in the United States. These American icons winter along the state`s rivers, and their breeding numbers are rising.

Illinois once harboured expansive grasslands. Today, less than one percent of Illinois` native prairies exist. But people are working to preserve them and protect breeding grassland species including Bobolinks, Grasshopper and Henslow`s Sparrows, Dickcissels, Upland Sandpipers, and Eastern and Western Meadowlarks Scattered among the prairies are wetlands in the north and prairie potholes in the central part of Illinois. The state-endangered Black-crowned Night-Heron, Pied-billed Grebe, and other birds confined to marshes still find places to nest in Illinois. Growing among the prairies, too, are woodlands, where Wood Thrushes and Scarlet Tanagers breed. The patchwork nature of Illinois`s woods today, due to development, has created a major problem for breeding forest birds, which are being parasitised by Brown-headed Cowbirds, which lay their eggs in other birds` nests.

West-central Illinois once contained a collage of sloughs, wetlands, and woods where millions of migratory waterfowl and other birds fed or rested. Restoration has returned some of the natural floodplains within the Mississippi Flyway along the Illinois River. Lake Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge is designated as an internationally important shorebird migratory stopover. This region attracts thousands of shorebirds annually including dowitchers, phalaropes, yellowlegs, sandpipers & plovers, as well as many duck species.

The southernmost part of the state remained ice-free during Illinois` last ice age. Instead, geological action beneath the earth uplifted the ancient seabed to create the Shawnee highlands, what is now the Shawnee National Forest. Here, bald cypress swamps attract herons, egrets and Pileated Woodpeckers. Prothontoary Warblers nest in cavity holes overlooking the rivers. High in the trees, are breeding Northern Parula, Yellow-throated and Cerulean Warblers. River bottomlands provide habitat for breeding Louisiana Waterthrushes and Acadian Flycatchers. Some places in the southern part of the state have attracted 19 species of breeding warblers.

Because of its variety in climate, ecosystem, and geological landscape, Illinois is growing in importance as a birding state, one where rare birds can be protected if humans will help.

Sheryl De Vore is the Chief Editor of Meadowlark, A Journal of Illinois Birds, and author of Birding Illinois, published in March 2000 by Falcon Press, and Northern Flights: Tracking the Birds and Birders of Michigan`s Upper Peninsula, published by Mountain Press in June 1999.