Frederik Heller

At the Warrenville Arbor Day event on April 25, Mike Warner talks with DBC members Jill and Brent Richardson. Photo courtesy of Diann Bilderback A variety of organizations reach out to the DuPage Birding Club in search of presentations and programs about birds. The Outreach Committee’s members try to fulfill as many requests as possible but find we are always in need of volunteers. You don’t have to be a birding expert or a polished public speaker to play a role in Outreach activities. Many activities are field trips where a second helpful person would improve the experience for participants. […]

The DBC Education Channel library has multiple titles in its collection that can help you refresh your warbler identification skills just in time for the May 10 Spring Bird Count and the busy migration season. Check them out! Yellow Female Warblers – Hooded Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, and Yellow Warbler females can be somewhat difficult to tell apart. You’ll find some useful tips in this tutorial.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpYh2FIdurY Thrushes – One tutorial will walk you through the finer points of visual identification and the other will help you to sort through the thrush vocalizations.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIuC2VcGAi8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX9Po8ZiWBM Connecticut Warbler vs. Mourning Warbler

Many of us put up hummingbird feeders to attract these jeweled beauties to our yards in summer. But there are more natural ways to make your space attractive to hummingbirds, including planting the flowers they like to frequent, offering the right kind of water source, and limiting pesticide use. This article from the University of Illinois explains just what hummingbirds need to make your landscape a daily stop. https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2026-04-10-more-feeders-attracting-hummingbirds-your-landscape

Maria Ananieva is an artist and bird lover who recently showed off her talents at Gallery 200 in West Chicago. As a loyal DBC member she requested some of our membership brochures and bird checklists to be displayed at the entrance of her exhibit. Mike Warner stopped by the gallery recently and reported that Maria’s artwork was “wonderful!” He said he was impressed with the quality of her paintings and her interpretations of the birds in action. Her exhibit ended in April. If you’d like to see some of Maria’s work, you can visit the West Chicago Library or contact

We had a great turnout for the first DBC game day featuring Wingspan on April 11th! Twenty-four members played at five different tables. We enjoyed each other’s company while learning the rules and delighted in the game featuring factual bird cards from around the world, mini eggs and a feeder station that spat out dice. We are hoping to repeat this event in the upcoming months. Keep an eye on future issues of Drummings for further details. Photos courtesy of Stephanie Cullerton

Photo courtesy of Diann Bilderback The March 14th Fermilab Workday drew an impressive 25 participants, with DBC members, Fermilab ecologists, and Fermilab Natural Areas volunteers wielding loppers and handsaws to clear a shrubland section of east Fermilab of trees and invasive species. “We made GREAT progress on the restoration of the shrubland,” said organizer Denis Kania, “and it seemed like everyone had a good time as there was a lot of chatter and laughter while we worked.” The workday was part of a multiyear project to clear a 43-acre section of shrubland overrun by invasive plants like honeysuckle, buckthorn, black cherry, and others. To

DBC members are invited to spend Saturday afternoon, April 11, playing Wingspan with fellow members in a congenial environment. Wingspan is a beautifully crafted game where each player has several wildlife habitats in which to attract a variety of birds with unique characteristics and abilities. Players learn about bird habitats, nest types, and wingspan as they balance limited food tokens (gained via a bird feeder dice tower) and eggs to play, feed, and breed birds. The game blends education with strategy, in an enjoyable atmosphere. Event managers Lenny Edgin, Elena Nelson, Stephanie Cullerton, and Sherry Courtney will teach you all

A dozen members of the DuPage Birding Club had the unique opportunity to tour the Urban Stream Research Center on Friday, March 13th. The USRC was opened in 2012 by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County and is its cornerstone in preserving aquatic habitats. To this date, nearly 38,000 subadult mussels have been propagated, reared, and released into area waterways to boost declining populations. DBC members saw all stages of the mussel rearing process, as well as turtles, fish, and dragonflies also reared at the facility. A special shoutout to Andres Ortega, the Aquatic Resources Supervisor at USRC, for

The DBC Book Club met last month to discuss The Feather Detective by Chris Sweeney. It was a biography of Roxie Laybourne, an expert in bird feather identification, who investigated feathers found at murder scenes and airplane-bird collision sites. The group found it to be interesting reading and would recommend it to birders and non-birders alike. The group then selected Among Penguins: A Bird Man in Antarctica by Noah Strycker as their next read. From the publisher: “The year he graduated from college, 22-year-old Noah Strycker was dropped by helicopter in a remote Antarctic field camp with two bird scientists

In case you missed it, this “lightning round” webinar on February 11 reported on various bird conservation advocacy issues, both here in the Chicago area and across Illinois. It also provided information about volunteering for a number of local, ongoing bird conservation projects. The Chicago Bird Alliance organized this important event.  Watch the recording here.