News

  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

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Mini-tutorial featuring three ducks, the Ring-necked Duck, the Lesser Scaup, and the rarer Greater Scaup. Here during migration and sometimes over winter, these birds are of the same genus and have similar appearances, but their bills, plumage, and other features distinguish them. One tip: don’t look for the ringed neck of the Ring-necked Duck. Another tip: note where the peak of the crown of their head lies, further back or close to the bill. A good challenge for your birding skill. Presented by Denis Kania. For

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Mini-tutorial covering the five goose species that can show up in DuPage County. The ubiquitous, all-year round Canada Goose and smaller Cackling Goose resemble each other, as do the white (and sometimes blue-gray) Snow Goose and smaller Ross’s Goose. And then there’s the Greater White-fronted Goose. Learn what to look for beyond comparative size. Next time you see a flock of geese feeding at a pond or passing overhead, be sure to stop and take a closer look! Presented by Denis Kania. For more on birds

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Mini-tutorial describing the history and current state of the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), an international annual daylong count of birds going back to 1900. Here we focus on the Fermilab-Batavia count circle, which started in 1976. Since that time, DuPage and Kane habitat has altered, and environmental regulations have kicked in, so what birds are we seeing more or less of now? How are, say, the various woodpeckers doing? Is the American Crow coming back? What birds have been seen only once? What may the future

  The DBC Board is pleased to present Mini-Tutorials on the DBC YouTube Channel. Sandhill Cranes were once a rare sight in DuPage, but now they’re breeding across the county and can be seen at many times of the year. In spring and fall, look (and listen) for them flying in large groups overhead. And, now, there’s always a chance an endangered Whooping Crane might be among them! Learn the comeback stories of both of these crane species, how they migrate on thermals, and a migration staging area in Indiana that is well worth a visit. Presented by Denis Kania.For