Chipping Sparrows; Early April Migration to Northern Illinos

A Chipping Sparrow, Blackhawk Springs Forest preserve, Rockford, IL; 4/25/2011.

Along with Field Sparrows (yesterday's post), Chipping Sparrows (Above) are another one of the earliest sparrows to return to northern Illinois to spend the summer.  Chipping Sparrows are named for their song - a long drawn out mechanical trill. One can hear these sparrows "chipping" away from the tree tops, especially early in the morning. They are one of the first birds I hear each spring and summer morning.

Chipping Sparrow, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 5/8/2011.

Chipping Sparrows are very common throughout the U.S. from coast to coast, covering everywhere except the extreme south (Florida, along the Gulf Coast, Texas and southern Arizona). However in winter they will migrate to those southern areas and into Mexico. They have a bright reddish crown and a black eye-stripe. Underneath they are fairly clean without streaks or smudges, and have two white wing bars to break up their reddish brownish coloring.

Chipping Sparrow, Espenscheid Forest Preserve, Rockford, IL; 5/22/2011.

Field Sparrows; April Migration to Northern Illinois

Along with the swallows that were featured in my last three posts, early April brought an abundant of new arrivals into Northern Illinois. Of these, birds that will stay and make our area their summer home are Brown-headed Cowbirds, Brown Thrashers, Eastern Meadowlarks, and several sparrows - Field, Vesper and Chipping Sparrows.

A Field Sparrow building a nest, Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve, Rockford, IL; 5/1/2011.

By early April, I heard Field Sparrows (Above) singing away in the weedy/grassy fields of our local Forest Preserves and Parks, with their soft whistles starting slowly and rapidly gaining acceleration in their phrase. Their distinct song is not their only identifying trait. They have a clean light gray breast, red cap, a complete white eye-ring, orange bill, and red line extending behind its eyes (Below).

One of the earliest Field Sparrows I had seen this spring, Bauman Park, Rockford, IL; 3/30/2011.

In the summer, Field Sparrows can be found throughout most of the eastern half of the U.S. from the Great Plains to the Atlantic seaboard but not along the Gulf Coast. In winter they will migrate to the southeastern quadrant of the U.S. extending to the Gulf and slightly into Mexico.

A Field Sparrow, Balckhawk Springs Forest Preserve, 4/25/2011.

They are quite common in weedy fields where they build their nests.But they like to have bushes or trees nearby to escape to in case of danger.

A pair of Field Sparrows waitingin a tree for me to pass by,
Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve; 5/1/2011.

When threatened (i.e. when I get too close to them) they will fly to the nearest tree or bush (Above) until they feel the danger has passed.

Barn Swallows: April Migration to Northern Illinois



Val's photo of Barn Swallows show their brilliant colors and their long tails and wings, Rock Cut State Park; 5/17/2009.

Barn Swallows are one of the most graceful and colorful of Swallows with their dark blue head, back and wings, contrasted brilliantly with its deep orange throat and forehead. The orange lightens as it lowers onto the breast then belly. In flight, Barn Swallows are easy to spot with their long forked tails. Even while perched you can see their thin long tails sticking out beyond their long wing tips (Above - photo by Val).

A Barn Swallow, Horicon Marsh national Wildlife Refuge, Horicon, WI; 5/29/2011.

Barn Swallows are one of five swallow species (along with Tree, Northern Rough-winged, Bank, and Cliff) that we have in Northern Illinois during the summer months. Barn Swallows are also found throughout the entire U.S. (save for extreme Southern California and Western Arizona, and the southern tip of Florida), Mexico, and much of Canada.

Barn Swallow on a bridge support, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 5/17/2009.

Barn Swallows can be found near man-made structures, almost exclusively building their bowl-shaped nests made of mud under bridges, and porch and barn roof overhangs.

Barn Swallows, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/17/2009.

Tree Swallows; Early April Migration to Northern Illinois

A Tree Swallow, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/23/2010.

A Tree Swallow, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 5/2/2010.

Tree Swallows are one of the earliest swallows to be seen in northern Illinois each Spring. They are very colorful with a bright turquois head and back which look metallic when glinting in the sunlight (Above two pics), Their bright blue-green is offset with a snowy white throat, breast and underparts and with darker wings. Females and Juveniles, who have not earned their turquois colors yet, and are quite drab. From a distance, they can be confused with Bank Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows.

I find Tree Swallows to be very bold, letting me get quite close to photograph them. They nest in tree cavities (thus its name) but also like to nest in man made birdhouses (Below).

A Tree Swallow taking advantage of a birdhouse, Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Horicon, WI; 5/29/2011



Tree Swallow, Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Horicon, WI; 5/29/2011

In summer months, Tree Swallows are found throughout most of the U.S. except for the most southern states, and into most of Canada. They will spend their winters on the southern Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as well as throughout the Gulf Coast States and all of Mexico and Central America.


A pair of Tree Swallows, one (left) apparently not happy with the other one
encroachingon its territory, Rock Cut State Park, IL; 5/2/2010.

The last two summers I could gaurantee finding Tree Swallows at a certain marsh in Rock Cut State Park from early April on throughout the entire summer. This Spring, however, they have not seen them at this site. Last summer I could stay still near a particular sign and only have to wait a couple of minutes before a swallow would land on it to rest. (Above) I enjoyed a bit of territorial competition, as one Tree Swallow was sitting on the sign, and soon another one landed on the sign. The first swallow went into a chattering rage, as if "screaming" at the new landee to get off of its sign. The second swallow ignored the first one completely and let it "scream." Eventually the first one flew off and the second one stayed put.

When the Swallows Return to Northern Illinois; Early April Migration

A Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Espenscheid Forest Preserve, Rockford, IL; 5/1/2011 

Early April is the time swallows start arriving in our area of northern Illinois. The first two species of swallows that I observed this spring were the Northern Rough-winged Swallows (Above) and Tree Swallows (Tomorrow's post).  I have had good luck seeing N. Rough-wings near one of the bridges over the Kishwaukee River in Black Hawk State Park. Ordinarily I would have had a hard time differentiating between these swallows and Bank Swallows as they are both brownish with a lighter breast. But upon hearing their song, a short steady rough "frrrip" as they glide over the river snagging insects in mid flight, I knew they were Rough-wings.  N. R-wings are plain brown with darker eyes and lores, and its breast is a bit lighter as it gradiates to a dirty white near the belly. These swallows are found throughout the U.S. and Mexico and into southern Canada. They will spend their winters in Mexico and Central America.

Black-crowned Night Herons, Late March Migration to Northern Illinois

A Black-crowned Night Heron; you can see its white plumes sticking out the sides of its head; South Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago; 3/30/2011.

I was in Chicago at Lincoln Park on March 30, this Spring and was surprised to see a Black-crowned Night Heron (Above) sitting in a tree at South Pond. There was even a sign asdvertising BC Night Herons, and I thought perhaps it was a permanent resident - why else, I thought, would there be a sign about them, without gauranteeing that they would show up. Although most bird books will list Black-crowned Night Herons as summer residents of Illinois, they have been a rare sighting over the past few years. A couple of weeks later, I was reading on the IBET boards that more BC-N. Herons were viewed at South Pond. Then I did some more reading and found out that last spring (2010), a zoologist from Chicago was pleasantly surprised when he noticed one nesting in a tree near South Pond in Lincoln Park, one of the busiest places in Chicago. Soon the one turned into several, then to dozens, and before the Spring ended there were over 200 nesting Black-crowned Night Herons at South Pond. It turned out that the one I saw was one of four early arrivals and again like last Spring, hundreds more soon followed. see the link below to a website with the story and some great pics of all the nests ...
http://openlands.org/News/Other-News/openlandscapes-black-crown-night-herons-arrive-at-chicagos-lincoln-park.html

and   http://www.ilbirds.com/index.php?topic=48197.0

A Black-crowned Night Heron, Kaui, Hawaii; 7/10/2008.

Other than Chicago, I have seen these Herons up at Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin, and couple of years ago I saw many of them in Hawaii (Above). Here in the contiguous States, BC N. Herons can be found in several areas: The West Coast, Midwest, East Coast, Southeast and Southwest. They get their names because they do their hunting and foraging mainly at night. (Below) is a photo of a BC-N. Heron searching for prey at a small waterfall near the hotel I was staying at in Kaui.

A Black-crowned Night Heron hunting in the evening light, Kaui, Hawaii; 7/9/2008.

Turkey Vultures March Migration to Northern Illinois

Turkey Vultures roost in their favorite tree, Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, IL; 4/9/2011.

The first Turkey Vultures (Above) began to return to Rock Cut State Park in late March, and by April I can almost gaurantee that one could spot at least one (but many times a flock of 6-10) sitting in their favorite group of trees in one of the picnic areas on the southeast side of Pierce Lake. They like to sit high in branches near the top of tall trees and periodically cruise in circles looking for the oppurtunistic carrion that might be left somewhere. They are fairly common and easy to spot with their hulking dark brown body (26" long with a wingspan of almost 6 feet) and bony naked red head. Their bills hook down into a whitish curved point (Below) - which is good for carving or gnawing flesh off of the carcass.

A good look at a Turkey Vulture's bony red head and hooked bill,
Rock Cut State Park; 4/9/2011.

When they are soaring in the sky, you can differentiate them from most other raptors by the way they hold their wings up into a V-position, instead of spread flat like a hawk, falcon or eagle.

A Turkey Vulture cruising the sky searching for a cheap meal, Rock Cut State Park; 4/9/2011.

This Turkey Vulture glided right over the top of me while I was hiking through
the prairie section of Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve. I liked how its left
 wing glowed in the late afternoon sun, Rockford, IL; 4/11/2011.

During the summer months, Turkey Vultures can be found basically throughout the entire U.S. and Mexico as well as into the southern portions of Canada. During Winter they will pretty much migrate into the southeast corner of the U.S. and along the California Pacific Coastline and into Mexico and Central America.

A Turkey Vulture eyeing a picnic at Rock Cut State Park, Il; 4/9/2011.

This Turkey Vulture (Above) was staring at a young couple sunning on a blanket in a picnic area at Rock Cut State Park. Every few minutes, it would take off flying and slowly circle the couple, then perch on the same branch above them. I jokingly asked the coule if they were alive because vultures were circling overhead. They replied that after a while they were feeling a bit nervous, because it started with just the one and soon a half dozen other vultures joined it - all perched in the tree above where the couple was lying. Perhaps the vultures thought that the couple lying on the ground for such a long time was on the verge of dying and they were waiting for their meal to expire.  Ah, yes... good times at Rock Cut State Park.