News

As many of you know, DBC’s own Jeff Reiter authors the popular Words on Birds column in the Daily Herald. Jeff’s fun end-of-year review captures 2024’s important local conservation successes and birding highlights. The latter included about a dozen rare bird sightings within DuPage County, including a very cooperative Sage Thrasher at Hidden Lake who stayed on sight for days, which prompted then President Robert Perez to ask members whether there was anyone in the room who hadn’t seen the Thrasher! For the full story, visit Jeff’s blog at https://wordsonbirds.blogspot.com/

Most everyone recognizes the Bald Eagle as America’s national bird. It first appeared in 1782 on the Great Seal, a symbol of American strength and sovereignty as a nation. But the fact is that it just officially became our national bird on Christmas Eve 2024, when President Biden signed a bipartisan bill designating the Bald Eagle as the official bird of the United States. We can all heartily endorse this acknowledgment, notwithstanding one of our forefather’s objections—Ben Franklin thought the Bald Eagle was “a bird of bad moral character” since it is known to steal food from other birds. Franklin

Avian Flu: Avian Flu incidents are being monitored carefully by the District. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has advised citizens to report any sightings of five or more dead birds to their local IDNR representative and to avoid handling any sick or deceased birds. In DuPage, contact Nicky Strahl at nicky.strahl@illinois.gov. Pratt’s Wayne Woods-Southeast: During closed session the DuPage County Forest Preserve Board discussed the acquisition through negotiation or condemnation of a parcel known as “Pratt’s Wayne Wood-Southeast” by the Forest Preserve District. This parcel is 43 acres with over 200 oak trees, some exceeding 200 years old and

The deadly night in October of 2023 during which almost 1,000 birds crashed into the glass walls of McCormick Place remains one of the most sad and tragic events to befall our city in recent memory. The carnage roused the region’s conservation groups, civic leaders, and ordinary citizens to mobilize. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Field Museum, and Chicago Bird Collision Monitors negotiated a solution with McCormick Place to install bird-safe film on the Convention Center windows in a $1.2 million investment—all in time for fall migration. The good news is good indeed: only 18 dead birds were

  Best of Show Award, photo by Tim Duitsman The winners of DBC’s Fall 2024 photo contest have been finalized, adding to a growing library of stunning bird images taken by DBC members, and the Winter Contest is now open.  To view recent winning images or submit your own for the Winter ’24-‘25 Contest, go to Members Photo Gallery. 

Join fellow DBC members on Tuesday evening, March 11, to share insights from The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year. Written by Margaret Renkl, the book’s 52 chapters follow the creatures and plants in the author’s backyard over the course of a year. Reviewer’s call it “a luminous book” that celebrates the natural world. Each chapter is beautifully illustrated with original color artwork. For details on the meeting, contact Mike Warner at mwarner2543@gmail.com.

It’s a milestone year for the DuPage Birding Club! On January 14, the Club will have been in existence for 40 years! That’s pretty impressive longevity for an all-volunteer organization whose members belong simply (and renew their membership each year) because they love watching, hearing, and learning about birds! Kudos to the 21 founding members who saw a need and had a vision, and kudos to the 40 leadership teams who have created programs, field trips and other activities that have kept us interested.

On December 14, 2024, 85 birders and 2 feeder watchers counted every bird they could see and hear within the 15-mile circle during the 49th Fermi-Batavia CBC. Seventy-nine species were observed in the count, below our 10-year average. We had high counts for Ring-necked Duck (50) and Lesser Scaup (7). Everyone gathered for dinner and cheered the exciting countdown “reveal” of the results led by compiler Jeff Chapman. Thank you to all the area captains and counters in making this year another successful count! View full list of bird count.

Closed since the pandemic began in 2020, Fermilab Natural Areas are now reopened for birding. This includes the trails and lakes around the Red Barn, the Prairie near Wilson Hall, and the Bison herd along the main road into Fermilab. Admittance requires a Real ID or passport. Here’s a link to access guidelines and available birding locations: https://fermilabbirds.com/wildlife/access.shtml For the inside scoop on birding Fermilab, check out the DuPage Hotspot page: https://dupagebirding.org/dupage-hotspots/ In addition, the Fermilab Natural Areas team has launched a Facebook page. Follow them for up-to-date information on sightings: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61568595275271

Every late summer to fall, major ornithological entities publish their taxonomic updates. Updates include newly added bird species, which may be newly discovered species, or more commonly the elevation of subspecies or subspecies groups to species ranks. The latter is referred to as a “split.” The updates also include a number of “lumps,” where it is decided that two or more species are not sufficiently different from each other, and therefore better treated as subspecies or other forms of a single species. If listing is your game, splits have the potential to increase your list total, while lumps can decrease it.