Barb Dougan

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. What is that strange-looking bird in my yard? It could be a leucistic bird of a species you know quite well! This mini-tutorial covers leucistic bird plumage—a genetic mutation causing some feathers to appear white or frosted instead of their usual color. Sometimes all feathers are affected, but often it’s in a symmetrical, blotchy fashion. This fascinating rare phenomenon can affect all kinds of birds and makes for some tricky identifications. Get some practice reading ID clues with this video. The difference between leucistic and albino […]

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Mini-tutorial covering some birds you might find along the more open, rural DuPage County roadsides in winter: Snow Bunting, Lapland Longspur, and an all-year resident species, the Horned Lark. Smith’s Longspur is also covered, although they are seldom seen in our area. Found in sites with a lot of wide open space, like agricultural fields or prairies, learn to distinguish these birds based on bill shape, facial and other markings, and coloration (which can be hard to distinguish from a distance on a chill, gray winter’s

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Mini-tutorial covering females of the nine species of diving ducks we can find in DuPage County, with the Hooded Merganser representing all three merganser species of our area. While the males of these birds are often easier to tell apart, it’s a fun challenge to learn the distinguishing details of the females. With these tips and some persistent practice, you’ll start noting differences of the colors, structure, and patterns of these birds’ heads, bills, bodies, and tails that will make ID a satisfying achievement. Presented by

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Mini-tutorial covering females of the nine species of dabbling ducks we can find in our area. While the males of these birds are often more easily distinguished, it’s a fun challenge to dig into the details of the females. With these tips and some persistent practice, you’ll start noting differences of the colors and shapes of these birds’ heads, bills, wings, and tails that will make ID a satisfying snap. Presented by Denis Kania. For more on birds and birding in DuPage County, visit https://www.dupagebirding.org. As

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. The Fermilab Bird Monitoring Project has been ongoing since 1987, covering large portions of the lab’s 6,800 acres of habitat, including a variety of wetlands, woods, savanna, agricultural land, and scrub. Monitoring there since the project began, Denis Kania explains the color-banded charts you’ve seen in DBC mini-tutorial videos—how the survey is broken into five-year time periods, with quarterly increments for each month—and how they inform monitoring efforts. He also shares the wealth of information available on its homepage, including a full list of bird species

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Mini-tutorial presenting three of our diving ducks, the mergansers, found mostly in winter and migration months in DuPage. There are some similarities and striking differences among these ducks. Males are easily distinguished through their plumage and crest (from sleek to hooded to bad hair day). Females are more subtle, and what to look for in their necks, crests, and bills is detailed. Presented by Denis Kania. For more on birds and birding in DuPage County, visit https://www.dupagebirding.org. As meetings and field trips have been altered for