Meadowlark

A JOURNAL OF ILLINOIS BIRDS

Volume 5, Number 1

1996 A

QL684. 13 M4

v. 5 no. 1 1996

Illinois Ornithological Society

Publisher

Illinois Ornithological Society Eric Walters, President Sheryl De Vore, Chief Editor

Hoard of Directors

Cindy Alberico (Field Trip Chair), Richard Blewett, Robert T. Chapel, Judy K. De Neal (Vice-President), Michael Hogg (Treasurer), David B. Johnson,

Jean Lesniak, Eric Walters, David Willard, Ph.D.

Recording Secretary Philip Haebler

Associate Editors Judy K. De Neal David B. Johnson,

Peter Lowther William Moskoff Christine Williamson

Art Editor

Denis Kania

Staff Photographers

Joe B. Milosevich, Dennis Oehmke

Staff Illustrators

David Athans, Karen Becker, Brian K. Willis

Pre-Press Production

Kathy Ade

Printing, Reprox 4667 McRee

St. Louis, Missouri 63110

Membership Secretary

Joan Palinscar

Editorial Advisory Board

Laurence C. B inford, Ph.D., Dale Birkenholz,

H. David Bohlen,

Kenneth J. Brock, Victoria J. Byre, Robert T. Chapel,

Scott Hickman, Ph.D.,

L. Barrie Hunt, Vernon M. Kleen, Scott K. Robinson, Ph.D.,

W. Douglas Robinson,

Robert Szafoni, David Willard, Ph.D.

Letter from the editor

Photo contest set for anniversary issue

It is difficult to believe, but soon we will be celebrating Meadowlark' s fifth anniversary. That means we will have published five complete volumes or 20 issues. I have been overwhelmed with die wonderful volunteer spirit among Illinois birders. Not only can you folks bird well, but you can also write and draw well and take great photographs.

To diank you and celebrate our success - 1 say our success - because the fact we are alive and thriving after five years is due to all our members, we are featuring an Avian Photo Contest for our 5th anni¬ versary issue: Volume 6 No. 1.

The winner receives a year’s membership in IOS for someone of their choosing. In addiUon, die winning photo will be published in the 5di anniversary issue. Here are the rules and how to enter.

Theme: Celebration! Send us your best photo(s) of a bird or birds diat capture(s) the essence of celebration. I know this is anthropomor¬ phizing a bit, but hey, we’re celebrating! If you’d like, you can include a sentence on why you diink your photo captures celebration.

Only amateur photographs are eligible. No professional photogra¬ phers who earn their income by taking photos, please. The photo must have been taken of a bird (or birds) in the wild in Illinois in eitiier 1995 or 1996. No zoo or captive bird photos, please. You must indicate date and place of photo taken as well as species name in English and Latin. Other information such as f-stop, film speed, and type of camera used is also requested.

The photo must be original, taken by the person whose name is indicated as die photographer, and must not have been published else¬ where. It must be eidier a color print or a black-and-white print.

No slides.

If you want your photo back, please include a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage for return. If you would like us to keep die photo for possible future use in Meadowlark , please let us know.

Photos not meeting die above requirements will be disqualified. All decisions are final.

Submissions must be postmarked by August 15, 1996. Winner will be announced in Vol. 6 No. 1, and die winning photo will be published in diat issue. Send photo to: Meadowlark Photo Contest, Sheryl De Vore, 967 Braeburn Road, Mundelein, IL 60060.

President’s Message

Birding has become America’s second most popular hobby, accord¬ ing to a recent government survey. That raises the question: How can IOS help new birders? Our journal certainly helps by providing site guides, field notes, and other articles that can improve birding skills.

But there’s more we can do. We could, for instance, offer workshops and field trips geared toward new birders. The workshops would intro¬ duce beginners to aspects of birding that might take years for them to learn on their own. IOS would also benefit by gaining new members and more insight from those with varying degrees of skills and interest in birding.

If you’re excited by this vision and would like to be involved, let me know. And if you’re a new birder, let us know how we can help.

About our cover:

Staff illustrator Brian K. Willis drew the Osprey, which summered near Rock¬ ford, Illinois in 1995. See Field Notes for specifics.

Copyright© by the Illinois Ornithological Society. No part of this journal may be reproduced without the written permission of IOS and the chief editor, except brief passages of a paragraph or less in which attribution is made to the journal and author.

Vol. 5, No. 1

MEADOWLARK

A Journal of Illinois Birds Volume 5, Number 1 - 1996 ISSN 1065-2043

Articles _

Breeding Biology of House Sparrows:

Observations of a Suburban Colony 2

— Peter Lowther

The House Finch in Illinois 7

— Nancy Bent

House Finch Disease Rises in Illinois 8

— Sheryl De Vore

The Peregrine Falcon: Time to Delist? 10

— Mary Hennen

Wood Thrush Feeds Nesting Material to Fledgling 17

— Robb T. Brumfield

Departments _

Avian Archives 18

The Brendel Early Peoria Bird Lists — Charles “Ted” Black

Bird Finding Guide 13

Nelson Lake Marsh

— Nancy Reason and Roger Bent

Feeder Station 17

Makeshift trees help photographer get natural shots of woodpeckers in his backyard — Kevin Wright

Seasonal Highlights/Breeding Season 1995 20

Field Notes 27

Breeding Season 1995 — Vernon Kleen

1

'J

Meadowlark

BREEDING BIOLOGY OF HOUSE SPARROWS:

Observations of a Suburban Colony

By Peter E. Lowther

House Sparrows ( Passer domesticus) first appeared in North America at New York in 1852. The introduction of this species as an aid to fanners was supported and en¬ couraged by the United States. But a mere 22 years later, when the spe¬ cies first appeared in the Chicago area, the favorable public opinion had already radically changed (Bar- rows 1889).

House Sparrows are human comensals and are rarely found away from urban or agricultural habitats. Cities in the 1800s provided an envi¬ ronment ideal for House Sparrows: buildings with nooks and crannies for nesting and roost sites and an abun¬ dance of food. This food came indi¬ rectly from the care and maintenance of the primary means of transporta¬ tion — horses — as spilt feed and undigested seeds in manure. With the beginning of automobile transporta¬ tion, sparrow abundance shifted from cities to rural agriculture areas (Rand 1956). Most North American studies of House Sparrows have examined, understandably, rural sites where sparrow numbers are often enhanced by concentrations of farm animals (see Lowther and Cink 1992). Here I report general data on breeding biology from a suburban sparrow population.

House Sparrow, 5 May 1995. Salisbury, IL. Photo by Dennis Oefunke.

Vol. 5, No. 1

METHODS

Study Site: In October and No¬ vember 1987, I placed 7 nestboxes on the garage at my residence in Homewood, Cook County, Illinois. Nestboxes measured about 14 x 14 x 20 cm with a 3.8 cm diameter en¬ trance hole, and were placed between 1.7 and 2.4 m above ground. In suc¬ cessive years I added to the number of nestboxes until 25 were present in 1995. Median nearest neighbor dis¬ tance for boxes was 61 cm (range 20 - 521 cm, n= 25).

Homewood is located about 37 km south of Chicago at about 41_ 33* N, 87_ 39' W, at 200 m elevation. Homewood is a residential village with population of 19,278 (1990 cen¬ sus) or 1,404 per km2 and is sur¬ rounded by other similar Chicago suburbs. Nearest croplands are iso¬ lated fields about 3 km distant; near¬ est livestock are much farther away.

Field Routine: Nestboxes were checked regularly to allow determi¬ nation of dates of egg laying, hatch¬ ing, nest losses, and young birds leav¬ ing the nest. For the first few years this interval was once every 3 days; for later years, every other day. Occa¬ sionally, due to my absence, a longer interval was necessary; sometimes I checked nests daily. For each nest check, I recorded nest contents. I numbered eggs and measured length and width to nearest 0. 1 mm and mass to die nearest 0. 1 g. I measured young to the nearest 0.25 g and banded them

with USF&WS bands when they reached 15 - 20 g in mass. Actual, or estimated, mass of surviving young at age 7 days was used as a measure of nestling quality. These procedures were the same I had used elsewhere (Lowther 1979, 1983; see alsoMurphy 1978a, 1978b). Completed clutches were those clutches known to be incubated and/or containing a “last” egg with less dense pigmentation spotting (see Lowther 1988). I could not account for the fate of all eggs at hatching; number of young hatching recorded was either minimum hatch (which counted only diose young known to have hatched), or maxi¬ mum hatch (which assumed that unaccounted eggs hatched). Young known or presumed to have left the nest contributed to measures of nest¬ ling survival.

Brood XIII of periodic cicadas ( Megacicada ssp) emerged during 1990 in the Homewood area. Cicadas were above ground between 28 May and 6 July, with peak numbers about 17 June 1990. On 18 July 1993, I positioned 12 boxes (including 2 with active nests) about 16 cm higher in response to a period of systematic predation by a cat. European Star¬ lings ( Sturnus vulgaris) used 1 or 2 boxes during 5 years of the study, gaining entrance either by lifting the box’s lid and entering the top (this method prevented by adding latches to most boxes) or by enlarging the entrance hole. Two boxes available

3

in 1993-1995 had been made with an enlarged entrance as an attempt to appease and direct starling interest to these boxes as potential nest sites and limit their interference with nest¬ ing sparrows.

RESULTS:

Dates of first eggs of first clutches ranged between 24 March (in 1990) and 15 April (in 1992); dates of first eggs of last clutches of season varied between 3 July (in 1994) and 1 August (in 1993). Modal clutch size was 5 eggs; ranging from 1 to 6 (mean = 4.6, sd = 0.76, n = 220). Mean egg mass was 2.78 g (sd = 0.28, n = 1086). Incubation period, mea¬ sured from penultimate egg to date of hatching was 1 1 .9 days (sd = 0.37, n=183;9-17 days); nestling period, measured from date of hatch until young left the nest, was 14.7 days (sd = 2.16, n = 134; 9- 19 days). Mass, at age 7 days, of those young that sur¬ vived to leave the nest was 19.24 g(sd = 4.55, n = 383; range 5 - 29.8 g). Included among these young were 27 raised during the cicada emergence; mean 7-day mass of these young was 23.59 g (sd = 2.92; range 16 - 29.5 g). Modal brood size was 3 young. Sum¬ mary of breeding success is given in Table 1. Overall egg survival was 37% for all eggs laid (40% for eggs in completed clutches); hatching success for completed clutches was between 71% and 76% depending on minimum or maximum hatching estimates; between 49% and 52% of young survived to leave the nest.

Over all 8 years, nesting produc¬ tivity, measured as young produced per egg, was 0.45. For 1990, the cicada year, survival was enhanced for those clutches active at the same time of cicada emergence; only 6 nests with young were influenced but pro¬ ductivity was highest of all years at 0.70 young/egg. Regular predation during two years — by a cat in 1993 taking 11 broods and by a raccoon family and, apparently, American

4

Crows ( Corvus brachyrhynchos ) in 1995 taking 18 broods — resulted in the lowest annual productivity of all years at 0.27 young/egg in 1993 and 0.25 young/egg in 1995. A heat spell in 1995, with temperatures up to 41 C, caused deaths in two broods of half grown young.

DISCUSSION:

Broad, general descriptions and measures of nesting activity of House Sparrows are really very similar to and not unusually different from findings reported by other Midwest¬ ern studies including one I had con¬ ducted in Kansas (Lowther 1979, 1983). My subjective impressions of differences point to lower abundance and quality of food resources when compared with rural habitats, espe¬ cially farmsteads with feedlot opera¬ tions, and are not unexpected. Nest¬ ing starts later and ends earlier; mean clutch size is lower; general produc¬ tion is lower in terms of eggs laid and young produced.

Comparisons with other studies are certainly valid means to help understand patterns of variation. My Kansas study is one prime source of comparison since subjective impres¬ sions of both studies have the same source and bias. Obvious differences between this Illinois study and my Kansas work include factors of time (different years of study), location (e.g., latitude, longitude), weather (e.g., temperature, precipitation, sea¬ son) and habitat (9 rural Kansas farmsteads with livestock vs. subur¬ ban residential areas). My discussion emphasizes this difference in habitat, but I have controlled for none of these other factors.

Pitt’s (1979) work near Martin, Tennessee, shows a more proper de¬ sign to compare differences between rural and urban sparrow populations, but his data are somewhat limited. His two sites, located 50 km apart, provided 2 years of data on nesting attempts and 1 year of comparison

for nesting success. Rural birds had largerclutch sizes than suburban birds (rural: 4.9 eggs/nest, n = 40 vs. sub¬ urban: 4.4 eggs/nest, n = 33); and rural birds were more productive (ru¬ ral: 66 young/166 eggs = 0.41 young/ egg vs. suburban: 38/143 = 0.27 young/egg; Pitt 1979). For Homewood sparrows, clutch size (= 4.6 eggs/nest), productivity (= 0.45 young/egg) and length of season (= 98 days) are “low” compared to other rural studies. These results are what I would expect given subjective im¬ pressions of availability of food re¬ sources. Suburbia is not a high qual¬ ity habitat for House Sparrows. Other Midwest studies, from south to north, include those of Anderson (1977, 1978) at 3 farmsteads near Portage des Sioux, Missouri; Will (1969, 1973) at 2 feedlots near McLeansboro, Illi¬ nois; North (1973) at Coldspring, Wisconsin, a rural village of 12 houses; and Anderson (1994) at 4 dairy farms near Pellston, Michigan. Brief summary information for these studies are tabulated in Table 2. Pat¬ terns are hard to see. Clutch size in

Ten-day-old nestling from box GO 3 on 6 May 1995. Four eggs were laid and 3 hatched about 26 April. Two young survived until 11 May when predated by raccoons.

Photo by Peter Lowther.

Meadowlark

The author’s daughter, Gloria Lowther, uses a mirror to check the nest contents of a House Sparrow nest box on 6 May 1995 in Homewood, IL.

Photo by Peter Lowther.

House Sparrows, as for many other species, tends to increase with lati¬ tude (Murphy 1978a, Summers-Smith 1988), a fact that would confound any effort to make “good” habitat - “bad” habitat comparisons. Similarly, length of the breeding season of more northern sites tends to be shorter than that of southern locations (Murphy 1978a). Nesting success (young pro¬ duced per egg) seems remarkably similar for almost all studies. Pitt’s (1979) low value for suburban spar¬ rows, based on limited data from a single year, mayjustrepresenta“bad” year, similar to the low productivity value for 1993 and 1995 in this present study. Other measures of productiv¬

ity such as eggs/box or young/ box might better describe a female’s annual productivity; for Kansas these values are 13.09 eggs/box and 5.28 young/box; in this study, these values are lower, 7.95 eggs / box and 3.24 young/box. Nesting success is the same (about 40%), but greater nest¬ ing activity in rural Kansas produces more young birds: Kansas sparrows would have 3 or 4 clutches per year, the

View of Homewood, IL study site showing 14 of 26 nest boxes available in 1995. Photo by Peter Lowther.

A mirror’s view of nest contents. Photo by Peter Lowther.

suburban birds of this study produced only 1 or 2 clutches. Within the Kan¬ sas study, differences between farms with high and low values of sparrow productivity were caused by differ¬ ences in the number of broods reared (Lowther 1983). This factor — num¬ ber of broods — is likely the major cause of differences between rural and urban sparrow populations.

All 25 nestboxes are located within a 4 m diameter circle; such a nesting density is not unusually high (McGillivray 1980,pers.obs.). I knew of an additional 1 1 sparrow nest sites located in or on nearby neighborhood buildings. Together this assemblage of nests comprised a loose colony (Summers-Smith 1963) distributed within an area less than 1 block in size. The concentration of nesting at the garage was due, in part, to an abundance of safe nest sites provided by nestboxes. Acceptance of nest¬

boxes was somewhat gradual. Total nestings increased over the 8 years along with increasing number of nestboxes, but nesting activity (= clutches/nestbox) showed a big jump between the first 3 years (1.2 - 1.3 clutches/nestbox) and the last 5 years (1.7 - 2.0 clutches/nestbox; see Table 1).

Not all nestboxes were equally successful. Crude groupings of nestboxes into “front” (n = 10 nest- box sites), “side” (n = 6 sites), and “back” of garage (n = 7 sites, exclud¬ ing 2 with European Starling inter¬ ference), reflect increasing degrees of exposure of human disturbance in the form of “normal” daily activity in and near the back yard and garage. Front boxes were east- or south-fac¬ ing boxes facing the house and drive¬ way; side boxes were south-facing; and back boxes were not visible from the house and were placed on the west side of garage with west- or south¬ facing entrance holes (some of these boxes had entrance holes on side of box). Back nestboxes produced 1 .86 young/nesting, front nestboxes pro¬ duced 1.37young/nesting, and side nest-boxes were intermediate (1.58 young/nesting). The hot spot of spar¬ row nesting activity was located on the southwest comer of the garage, including the 2 far boxes on the side and 3 on the back.

Vol. 5, No. 1

5

Although House Sparrows may not provide the same appeal as studies of endangered species in natural habitats, their population biology shows responses just as complex relative to the environment. Variation occurs from time to time, from place to place, and from bird to bird. As these factors are examined and interactions understood, patterns of explanation emerge. The excite¬ ment and drama are there.

Table 1. Summary information of nesting activity and success in a suburban House Sparrow colony at Homewood, Illinois.

Year	Boxes1	Clutches2	Eggs3	Young	Season4
1988	7/6	7/7	32/32	17	12 Apr - 10 Jul
1989	10/9	14/11	47/44	13	11 Apr - 15 Jul
1990	15/13	22/17	73/61	43	24 Mar - 07 Jul
1991	15/13	27/25	115/108	60	10 Apr - 17 Jul
1992	17/17	33/29	135/123	66	15 Apr - 16Jul
1993	22/22	50/43	198/174	47	12 Apr - 01 Aug
1994	22/20	44/41	195/185	78	29 Mar - 03 Jul
1995	25/23	52/47	232/219	54	01 Apr - 17 Jul

1 Number of nestboxes available; number of nestboxes used.

2 Number of clutches initiated; number of completed clutches.

3 Total eggs laid; total eggs laid in completed clutches

4 Date of first egg of first clutch of year and last clutch of year.

Table 2. Comparison of several House Sparrows studies. The following studies, as listed in table, provide data for this table: Pitt (1979), Will (1973), Lowther (1983), Anderson (1978), this study. North (1973), and Anderson (1994) provide data for table.

Site Lat-Long Years & Mean Young/ Season

Clutches1 Clutch Egg

4. 0.27 ??Mar - ??Aug

Ack nowledgments:

Although this study provided a sentimental return to my graduate student days, it has been, occasion¬ ally, a family activity: I thank helpers and assistants Caryn, Gretchen, Gail, and Gloria Lowther. To those who filled in during vacation times, I thank Sara Lowther in 1993, and Brian Wayne and Christopher Wayne in 1994. Neighbors have been generous and understanding, especially Donald Callender who consented to an over¬ flow of 4 boxes onto his garage.

— Peter Lowther is Inland Bird Banding Association editor for North American Bird Bander. He did his graduate research on House Spar¬ rows at the University of Kansas. Lowther, an associate editor of Mead¬ owlark, is curently a computer sys¬ tems specialist for The Field Museum, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605.

Martin, TN (suburb)	36-089	2/ 33
(rural)		1/27
McLeansboro, IL	38-088	3/337
Portage des Sioux, MO	39-090	5/620
Lawrence, KS	39-096	4/1423
Homewood, IL	41-087	8/220
Coldspring, WI	43-089	1/76
Pellston, MI4	45-087	6/340

4.92	0.40
4.56	0.35	20 Mar - 10 Aug
4.67	0.40	17 Mar - 14 Aug
5.14	0.40	07 Mar - 25 Aug
4.61	0.37	24 Mar - 01 Aug
4.8 13	0.31	09 Apr - 10 July
4.96	0.56	?? Apr - ?? Aug

1 Years of study/number of completed clutches.

2 Based on 2 years, 40 clutches

3 Based on 2 years, 103 clutches

4 Field season missed first clutches.

Figure 1. House Finch in Illinois, 1987-1995. Data provided by Project FeederWatch. Modified from graphs provided by Ken Rosenberg, Chief Scientist, Project FeederWatch.

AVERAGE NUMBER PER FEEDER

House FYich

PERCENT OF FEEDERS VISITED

House Finch

6

Meadowlark

Literature Cited:

Anderson, T. R. 1977. Repro¬ ductive responses of sparrows to a superabundant food supply. Condor 79:205-208.

Anderson, T. R. 1978. Popula¬ tion studies of European sparrows in North America. Occ. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kansas, No. 70.

Anderson, T. R. 1994. Breeding biology of House Sparrows in north¬ ern Lower Michigan. Wilson Bull. 106:537-548.

Barrows, W. B. 1889. The En¬ glish Sparrow in North America, es¬ pecially in its relations to agriculture. USDA, Div. Econ. Omith. Mammal. Bull. 1:1-405.

Lowther, P. E. 1979. The nest¬ ing biology of House Sparrows in Kansas. Kansas Omithol. Soc. Bull. 30:23-26.

Lowther, P. E. 1983. Breeding biology of House Sparrows: intercolony variation. Occ. Pap. Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kansas, No. 107.

Lowther, P. E. 1988. Spotting pattern of the last laid egg of the House Sparrow. J. Field Omithol. 59:51-54.

Lowther, P. E., and C. L. Cink. 1992. House Sparrows. In The Birds of North America, No. 12 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.), Philadelphia: Acad. Nat. Sci.; Wash¬ ington, DC: Amer. Omithol. Union.

McGillivray, W. B. 1980. Nest

grouping and productivity in the House Sparrow. Auk 97:396-399.

Murphy, E. C. 1978a. Breeding ecology of House Sparrows: spatial variation. Condor 80: 180-193.

Murphy, E. C. 1978b. Seasonal variation in reproductive output of House Sparrows: the determination of clutch size. Ecology 59: 1 189- 1 199.

North, C. A. 1973. Population dynamics of the House Sparrow, Passer dome sticus (L.) in Wisconsin, USA, pp. 195-210 in Productivity, population dynamics, and systemat- ics of granivorous birds (S. C. Kendeigh and J. Pinowski, Eds.). Inst. Ecology, Warszawa, Poland.

Pitt, T. D. 1979. Nesting habits of rural and suburban House Spar¬ rows in northwest Tennessee. J. Tenn. Acad. Sci. 54:145-148.

Rand, A. L. 1956. Changes in English Sparrow population densi¬ ties. Wilson Bull. 68:69-70.

Summers-SmithJ.D. 1963. The House Sparrow. Collins, London.

Summers-SmithJ.D. 1988. The sparrows. T. & A. D. Poyser Ltd., Calton.

Will, R. L. 1969. Fecundity, density, and movements of a House Sparrow population in southern Illi¬ nois. Ph. D. diss., Univ. Illinois.

Will, R. L. 1973. Breeding suc¬ cess, numbers, and movements of House Sparrows at McLeansboro, Il¬ linois. Omithol. Monogr. 14:60-78.

The House Finch in Illinois

by Nancy Bent

This well-known story started when California cage bird dealers shipped wild-caught House Finches (carpodacus mexicanus) to New York dealers in 1940 for sale as “Hollywood finches.” To avoid pros¬ ecution under die International Mi¬ gratory Bird Treaty for possession of a native species, die New York dealers released die birds. House Finches were soon observed in die wild on Long Island, and have been increasing their range ever since (Elliott and Arbib 1953, Bent 1968). House Finches were seen in New Jersey by 1949 (Leek 1987), in Vir¬ ginia in 1962, reached Ohio in 1965, were found breeding diere in 1981 (Peterjohn 1989), and were first ob¬ served in Illinois at Mt. Vernon continued on page 9

Figure 2. House Sparrow in Illinois, 1987-1995. Data provided by Project FeederWatch. Modified from graphs provided by Ken Rosenberg, Chief Scientist, Project FeederWatch.

AVERAGE NUMBER PER FEEDER PERCENT OF FEEDERS VISITED

House Sporrw House Spomr*'

Vol. 5, No. 1

7

House Finch at Springfield, IL. 21 April 1993. Photo by Dennis Oehtnke.

House Finch Disease Rises in Illinois: Birders Can Help Cornell Lab Track the Disease

From November 1994 through March 1995, Cornell Lab of Or¬ nithology’s Project FeederWatch participants have reported an increase in the numbers of House Finches at Illinois feeders that have contracted a respiratory disease caused by the bacterium. Mycoplasma gallisepticum, which usually infects poultry (Dhondt 1995). Some 1,500 participants are monitoring the dis¬ ease which is spreading among House Finches in eastern North America. Since 1994, birders have noticed House Finches with red, swollen, crusty eyes. The disease typi¬ cally infects chickens and poses no risk to humans, but it can be fatal to House Finches. Birds’ eyes swell to the point that they can not see. They then have a difficult time finding food and may starve.

Cornell Lab is tracking the dis¬ ease through its I louse Finch Disease Survey. Volunteer participants record the amount of House Finches in their

backyards and at feeders, and the amount which exhibit signs of the disease. From November 1994 to March 1995, the number of partici¬ pants who reported sick finches at feeders has doubled. Other birds do not seem to be affected and House Finch populations appear to be holding steady (Dhondt 1995). “Most diseases in wild animals go through periods of increase and de¬ crease without causing permanent changes in populations,” said George Kollias, Professor of Wildlife Medi¬ cine at Cornell University. How this House Finch disease is spread, “whether species other than House Finches in the wild may be affected, and whether infected birds can re¬ cover and survive is not yet known,” said Kollias.

Long-term data will be the best measurements of the impacts of this disease. Long-term data could also be used to determine what to do if a threatened or endangered species

contracts a potentially fatal disease (Dhondt 1995).

Cornell Lab wants all data whether or not you see diseased birds. “If participants who don’t see sick birds stop sending in their forms while participants who see sick House Finches continue to sub¬ mit data, the data set will show an apparent increase in the disease - but it won’t be a real increase,” said Andre A. Dhondt, Director of Bird Population Studies at Cornell Lab (1995).

Call 1-800-843 -BIRD for spe¬ cific information on how to report data, and how you can help track the disease.

- Sheryl De Vore 967 Braeburn Road Mundelein, 11 60060

Literature Cited

Dhondt, A. 1995. Documenting a Disease. Birdscope 9:4-5.

8

Meadowlark

House Finches,

continued from page 9

(Jefferson County) in November 197 1 (Bohlen 1986).

In fact, the Breeding Bird Survey shows a phenomenal increase of 2 1 % per year from 1966-1979 in the region east of the Mississippi (Robbins et al. 1986). In 1982, the first House Finches confirmed breeding in Illinois were found with chicks in Robinson (Crawford County) on the eastern edge of the state (Bohlen 1986). By 1987 they were still more common on the eastern side of the state and were steadily increasing else¬ where in Illinois (Bohlen 1989). House Finches were first confirmed breeding in Cook County in 1985 (Anderson pers. com.). The House Finches we observed breeding in our yard in 1991 nested in a hanging planter on our front porch. This is a common nest site, as are dense conifers, street lamps, ivy growing on buildings, and similar human- altered landscape features (Hill 1993). According to the Cook County Nesting Season Bird Census, House Finches have increased in total numbers observed during the report period of 1-14 June from 6 birds in 1985 to 870 birds in 1995 (Anderson pers. com.).

Interaction with House Sparrows

When we first started observing House Finches at our feeders in 1987 they were far outnumbered by House Sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) and appeared to be dominated by them. While one researcher found House Sparrows to be dominant to House

Voi. 5, No. 1

Finches in the laboratory (Kalinoski 1975), and this correlates with field observations from the western United States (Bent 1968), observers of the two species’ interactions in the east¬ ern states report a standoff (Elliott and Arbib 1953, Katholi 1967).

House Finches and House Spar¬ rows have almost exactly the same adult diet ( Bent 1968 ). Both live in areas of human activity and nest around buildings and on ivy-covered

the House Finches. This anecdotal evidence is corroborated by Kricher (1983), who reported that House Sparrows had ceased to nest on a college campus in Massachusetts after the arrival of House Finches.

Eastern House Finches have undergone a clear evolutionary mor¬ phological divergence from their parentpopulation (Aldrich and Weske 1978). Eastern House Finches more frequently coexist with House Spar¬

House Finch feeding young at nest in Springfield, IL. 9 June 1986. Photo by Dennis Oehmke.

walls (Wootton 1987). Direct com¬ petition apparently occurs between House Sparrows and House Finches, as three researchers have found a correlation between rising House Finch numbers and falling popula¬ tions of House Sparrows (Kricher 1983, Robbins et al. 1986, Wootton 1987)

The Cook County Nesting Bird Season Census has not demonstrated as clear a negative correlation be¬ tween House Finch numbers and House Sparrow numbers as found by other researchers. House Sparrow numbers in Cook County have under¬ gone tremendous fluctuations be¬ tween years (Anderson pers. com.). However, we have found that there are many fewer House Sparrows in our neighborhood and at our feeders than there were before the arrival of

rows than do their western conspecif- ics. The increased presence of House Sparrows may have provided the se¬ lection pressure responsible for the evolution of the eastern House Finch into a competitor superior to the House Sparrow (Kricher 1983).

Project Feeder-Watch is a volun¬ teer program coordinated by Cornell University’s Fab of Ornithology and The Fong Point Bird Observatory in Ontario, Canada. Statistics for com¬ mon species which utilize bird feed¬ ers have been compiled from data provided by volunteers observ¬ ing feeders in their yards from the winter of 1987/1988 to the present. Although these statistics have not yet been published, Diane Tessaglia of Project FeederWatch was kind enough to provide me with the data for Illinois (Faboratory of Omithol-

9

ogy pers. com.). Figure i illustrates the increase in mean numbers of House Finches visiting bird feeders in Illinois, with the corresponding increase in percent of total feeders visited. The upward trend in both measures of House Finch numbers is evident from the graph. When these data are compared with a simi¬ lar graph prepared for House Spar¬ rows in Illinois over the same time period (Figure 2), a less obvious but still clear downward trend in House Sparrow numbers becomes evident. While House Sparrows are found at over 90 percent of reporting feeders each year, the mean number of birds reported per feeder, though fluctuat¬ ing, is dropping. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues as Project FeederWatch continues to compile the data provided by their many volunteers.

Bohlen (1989) listed the House Finch as an “uncommon permanent resident and increasing,” and noted that nesting had occurred in all sec¬ tions of the state. Although they are now more common in the Cook County region than they are in the remainder of the state (Hill 1993), we have observed House Finches on every birding trip we have made in Illinois, providing that the trip in¬ cludes at least some areas of human habitation.

The conversion of vast areas of forest, grassland, and desert into uniform areas of lawns, ornamental trees, and buildings has created enor¬ mous areas of ideal habitat for both western and eastern House Finches (Hill 1993). It is possible that the eastern House Finches are more de¬ pendent on artificial feeding than their western relatives (Aldrich and

Weske 1978), so as farmland contin¬ ues to be converted to housing devel¬ opments in Illinois, and as more people feed the birds that remain after this conversion, we can expect the numbers of our newest species to continue to rise. Although we are still explaining to puzzled homeowners what the “red sparrows” at their feed¬ ers are, it is probable that the House Finch will soon be as familiar to them as their other back yard cohorts.

Acknowledgments

Diane Tessaglia and Ken Rosenberg of the Cornell Lab of Or¬ nithology and Alan Anderson of the Chicago Audubon Society all pro¬ vided unpublished data which con¬ tributed substantially to this paper. Roger Reason provided helpful com¬ ments on an earlier draft.

Literature Cited

Aldrich, John W. and John S. Weske. 1978. Origin andevolution of the eastern House Finch population. Auk 95: 528-536.

Anderson, Alan. 1995. Personal communication, 7 December 1995. Alan coordinates the Chicago Audubon Society’s Cook County Nesting Bird Census, the results of which are published each year in the Society’s newsletter, the Compass.

Bent, Arthur Cleveland. 1968. Life histories of North American car¬ dinals, grosbeaks, buntings, towhees, finches, sparrows, and allies, Part One: Genera Richmondena through Pipilo (part). (United States National Museum Bulletin 237). Reprinted 1968, New York: Dover Publications Inc.

Bohlen, H. David. 1986. House finches in Illinois. The Living Mu¬ seum 48(1 ): 4-7.

Bohlen, H. David. 1989. The birds of Illinois. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

10

Elliott, John S. and Robert S. Arbib, Jr. 1953. Origin and status of the House Finch in the eastern United States. Auk 70: 31-37.

Hill. Geoffrey E. 1993. House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus ) in The Birds of North America, No. 46 (Alan Poole and Frank B. Gill, edi¬ tors). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists’ Union.

Kalanoski, Ronald. 1975. Intra- and interspecific aggression in House Finches and House Sparrows. Con¬ dor 77: 375-384.

Katholi, C. 1967. House Finch in the eastern United States. Redstart 34: 71-74.

Kricher, John C. 1983. Correla¬ tion between House Finch increase and House Sparrow decline. Ameri¬ can Birds 37: 358-360.

Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University. 1995. Personal commu¬ nication, 6 December 1995. Data from Project FeederWatch.

Leek, Charles F. 1987. Update on House Finch range. Records of New Jersey Birds 13: 18-19.

Peteijohn, Bruce G. 1989. The birds of Ohio. Bloomington, IN: Indi¬ ana University Press.

Robbins, Chandler S., Danny Bystrak and Paul H. Geissler. 1986. The Breeding Bird Survey: its first fifteen years, 1965-1979 (Resource Publication 157). Washington, DC: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Root, Terry. 1988. Atlas of win¬ tering North American birds: an analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.

Wootten, J.T. 1987. Inter¬ specific competition between intro¬ duced House Finch populations and two associated passerine species. Oecologia 71: 325-331.

— Bent Brookfield Zoo 8400 West 31st St.

Brookfield, IL 60513

Meadowlark

The Peregrine Falcon Time to Delist?

The Chicago Peregrine Release & Restoration (CPRR) pro¬ gram celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1995. With a proposal before the federal legislature to remove the Peregrine Falcon ( Falco peregrinus) from the Endangered Species list, it is an appropriate time to update Illi¬ nois birders on this species’ status.

Historically, 400-500 breeding pairs of peregrines nested east of the Rocky Mountains. By the 1960s, largely due to the effects of DDT, there were none. When CPRR began, only 4 territorial pairs of peregrines were known for the entire Midwest. Last year the Raptor Center in Min¬ nesota reported 62 Midwest territo¬ rial pairs, 41 of which were success¬ ful in fledging young. Illinois had its first successful breeding since 1951 when two chicks fledged from a downtown Chicago nest in 1988.

Young tagged Peregrine Falcon photographed at Fermi lab, Batavia, DuPage County. April 1988. Photo by Rudy Dorner courtesy of Fermilab Visual Media Services.

Vol. 5, No. 1

Chicago has been showing an in¬ crease not only in the number of ter¬ ritories but also the number of young fledged per year (Table 1).

Begun in 1985, CPRR joined efforts already underway to reestablish the peregrine falcon in the Midwest. Over a five year period, 1986-1990, CPRR released 46 im¬ mature falcons. This was just a small portion of approximately 660 per¬ egrines reintroduced throughout the Midwest from 1982 to 1993. As this number grew and more peregrines returned to breed on their own, the annual number of released peregrines gradually decreased. By 1995, only one release program in the Midwest is active; Kentucky is currently in its third year of a five year program.

Most states, including Illinois, have shifted into the second phase of restoration which involves the moni¬ toring and managing of those per¬ egrines holding territories. Project personnel ensure the safety of the falcons, assess their health, track resi¬ dent and migrant birds, and serve to educate the public about the species.

With population numbers on the rise, many are claiming a victory for the peregrine’s recovery. Last fall, the Arctic Peregrine Lalcon was re¬ moved from the Endangered and Threatened Species list. Currently,

By Mary Hennen

the peregrine population for the con¬ tinental US and lower Canada is un¬ der consideration for delisting. Even if the delisting occurs, peregrines will remain protected under the Mi¬ gratory Bird Treaty Act.

As encouraging as this sounds, many feel that it is too early to claim such a victory. Once removed from the Endangered Species list, the per¬ egrine loses many of die advantages it had as a protected species. Con¬ cerns have been expressed about maintaining our current steward¬ ship activities if money or other resources are focused away from peregrines to other species.

With the loss of the endangered status, it is possible that managers and owners of buildings that have nesting peregrines will be less co¬ operative. Also, with less funding for personnel, die manpower to ensure breeding success may be forfeited. Either circumstance can have a nega¬ tive impact on die peregrine popula¬ tion. Some of the successful breeding statistics reported depend on numer¬ ous individuals who look after the peregrines and work to ensure die success of each nest under their care. For instance, a high proportion of the nesting peregrines are residing in cities away from die historic eyries. In 1995, three of die eight immature peregrines dial fledged from Chicago nests were retrieved off the city streets after landing from their initial flight. Widiout personnel to look after the peregrines, over 37% of

11

last year’s productivity might have been lost.

The Raptor Center reports distri¬ bution of Midwest nest sites as fol¬ lows: buildings 56%, cliffs 30%, smokestacks 7%, and bridges 7%. With only 30% of the nesting per¬ egrines in the Midwest residing in historic cliff eyries, a high proportion of the population utilizing artificial structures becomes jeopardized. The majority of the existing Midwest population is relying on humans in some manner for breeding success.

The formal proposal to delist die peregrine reports a significant proportion of the success resulted from the banning of certain organo- chlorines, such as DDT, in the U.S. The proposal does not respond to the issue of peregrines that feed upon migrant birds which winter in countries that still use DDT. Chicago’s lakefront is part of a migration route for millions of birds, and the urban peregrines read¬ ily feed on them. With the relative young age of the peregrines in the

Chicago area, it may be too early to determine what impact these poten¬ tially contaminated prey species will have. Peregrines also prey on shore- birds diatcan ingest PCBs from feed¬ ing along Lake Michigan.

What does this proposed delist¬ ing mean for Chicago? No immediate changes are forthcoming for CPRR. Personnel will continue to watch over the Chicagoland peregrines; tracking the falcons, banding young, and doing everything possible to en¬ sure the successful breeding of the birds.

The CPRR has recommended to die LI.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that the peregrine be reclassified to Threatened status instead of im¬ mediate delisting. Reclassification to Threatened status has several ad¬ vantages. While the peregrines ben¬ efit from the continued additional protection, funding becomes avail¬ able for endangered species in more immediate jeopardy. Secondly, it al¬ lows for time in which areas that have not reached target peregrine

populations numbers to do so includ¬ ing historic sites. Finady, it also pro¬ vides additional time to assess the long-term impacts of possible pesti¬ cide con tamination.

One issue everyone can agree upon; peregrine populations are en¬ joying a resurgence in the Chicago area and the Midwest. The hope is that this effort continues and realizes additional future success.

For more information on the Peregrine Falcon and the Chicago Peregrine Release & Restoration Program contact: The Chicago Acad¬ emy of Sciences, Chicago Peregrine Release & Restoration Program, 2060 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60614, (312) 549-0606 x2037 or (312) 477-HAWK.

For more information on the history of the Peregrine Falcon in Illinois, see Meadowlark, Vol. 2 No. 2.

— Hennen

Chicago Academy of Sciences 2060 North Clark Chicago, IL 60614

Table 1: Peregrine Productivity in the Chicagoland Area 1987-1995.

Site	# of years territory occupied (# breeding)	1995 Adult Identity	1995 Productivity	Total Productivity to date
125 S. Wacker	10(9)	Jingles (M.86-IL)	4 eggs laid	34 eggs laid
Chicago, EL		Harriet (F,85-LL)	4 hatched 3 Hedged	21 hatched 1 5 Hedged
Hyde Park	5(2)	Orion (M.90-WI)	4 eggs laid	7 eggs laid
Chicago, IL		Magnolia (F,9 1 -WI)	3 hatched 2 fledged	4 hatched 3 fledged
Broadway	2(2)	Franklin (M, 90-LA)	4 eggs laid	7 eggs laid
Chicago, IL		Eleanor (F.93-WI)	4 hatched 3 fledged	6 fledged 5 fledged
River Birds	2(2)	male (blk band ??7)	2 eggs laid	5 eggs laid
Chicago, IL		female (blk band 12V)	0 hatched	0 hatched
Irving Park Chicago, IL	8	unknown	0
Lakeview Chicago, IL	2	unknown	0
Madison Bldg	1		? eggs laid	? eggs laid
Chicago, IL	last occupied 1992		0 hatch	0 hatch
Brit Centre	1		1 egg laid	1 egg laid
Chicago, IL	last occupied 1991		0 hatch	0 hatch
Evanston, IL	1 last occupied 1990		? eggs laid ? hatch 2 or 3 fledge	? eggs laid 7 hatch 2 or 3 fledge

12

Meadowlark

Bird Finding Guide Nelson Lake Marsh:

Birds, turtles, frogs, and butterflies abound at this 200-acre wetland

by Roger Reason and Nancy Bent

One July, we were watching a snapping turtle with a baseball¬ sized head when out of one of the wet areas at Nelson Lake Marsh walked two Sandhill Cranes. Then, behind them, followed one fuzzy 1 - foot-tall chick. They fed as they walked toward the peat ponds and then slipped out of sight. This could be the second confirmed nesting of Sandhill Cranes, a state-endangered species, at Nelson Lake Marsh, a 200- acre wetland located in east central Kane County near the town of Batavia.

This site is part of the Kane County Forest Preserve system and was designated as an Illinois State Nature Preserve in 1981. Natural ar¬ eas include marshes, fens, and open water communities, with woodland and savanna bordering the wetlands on the west. Nelson Lake is a 40-acre glacial remnant. The preserve’ s north end also contains numerous ponds, the result of peat mining operations in the early 1900s.

Because of its habitat diversity, Nelson Lake Marsh is an excellent all-around birding spot, and a walk along its trails can yield a varied list ranging from the common to the un¬ expected. We have observed 120 avian species from March through September, including 11 that are state-endangered or state-threatened.

Vol. 5, No. 1

The Illinois Breeding Bird Atlas lists an additional 16 species for this site. Among these are King and Virginia Rails, the state-threatened Common Moorhen, and the state- endangered Yellow-headed Black¬ bird and BlackTem. The Directory of Illinois Nature Preserves also lists the American Bittern and Wilson’s Phalarope, both endangered in Illi¬ nois as being present at Nelson Lake Marsh. The 17 state-threatened or

state-endangered species visiting Nelson Lake represent 40 percent of those listed for Illinois.

Some birds are widespread throughout the site. Common Yel- lowthroats, Yellow Warblers, and Swamp Sparrows can easily be seen and heard anywhere in the wetland areas during spring and summer. Likewise, raptors, while not com¬ mon, are a possibility anywhere. Such species as Ospreys (state-en-

Dt'/V/s Kaaj'4

Nelson Lake Marsh: Sora drawing by Denis Kania.

13

dangered), Northern Harriers (state- endangered) and Turkey Vultures have been observed in the spring, and Red-tailed Hawks can be seen on al¬ most any visit.

For purposes of covering the less ubiquitous birdlife, we have divided die site into live areas shown on the accompanying map.

NELSON LAKE MARSH

Main Street

Bluebird trail

	Ml- i
Area 5	1
	1
JkL.	1 £
	1 / ? 1 /, o

Directions: Nelson Lake Marsh can be reached by taking Main Street west out of Batavia for about 4 miles and turning south (left) on Nelson Lake Road. Watch for the parking lot about one-half mile down on the right. Deer flies and mosquitos can be bother¬ some in June and July, so be prepared with long sleeves, long pants, and insect repellant. A brimmed hat is needed for protecdon from the sun.

14

Meadowlark

Area 1

Area 2

Area 3

Going south (left) from the parking lot, follow a trail leading past a large concrete pad with a sign detailing the history of the area, a primitive restroom, and then into the marsh. The trail loops around and joins itself again near the restroom. The soggy peat substrate and verdant vegetative growth on the outer part of the loop give a real feel for true marsh country. This is an excellent place to observe nesting Willow Fly¬ catchers. Northern Orioles are occa¬ sionally spotted, and American Woodcocks have been flushed here in the summer. Keep your eyes open during middle and late summer for the leopard frogs which frequent the wet areas of the path. They will hop out of your way at the very last sec¬ ond. Minute American toadlets, re¬ cently metamorphosed from tadpoles, are also common on this trail in late summer. During the very wet year of 1993, it was almost impossible to walk any of the trails on the site with¬ out kicking up a frog or toad with every other step.

There is a small section of open water traversed by a wooden bridge at the southwest comer of this loop. Wood Ducks and Blue- winged Teal have been observed here, and this is a good spot for Soras and Least Bitterns. Soras are heard on almost any visit during the breeding season, but only a lucky few actually see these marsh skulkers. One of our most vivid birding memories at Nelson Lake is of slowly pushing our way through chest-high grasses on a sweltering June day and sud¬ denly coming upon a Least Bittern in full view on the edge of this small pond. The bird allowed us a good look before it plunged into the cat¬ tails.

The small area of trees sur¬ rounding the ponds near the entrance are surprisingly good for observing birds during spring migration. Both species of kinglets, Fox Sparrows, and White -crowned Sparrows are early spring migrants seen mainly in the thick brush just below the park¬ ing lot. Later in the spring, a variety of warblers and vireos frequent the area, especially the tall cottonwood trees growing near the ponds. Species observed include Blackpoll, Magno¬ lia, Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, Black-and- White, Chestnut-sided, and Wilson’s Warblers, and Warbling, Bell’s, and Red-eyed Vireos.

B ro wn Thrashers and Green Her¬ ons are fairly common here during the spring and summer. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, declining breeders in northern Illinois, have nested near the ponds and Orchard Orioles, which also breed at Nelson Lake, are occasionally seen here. The orioles are particularly attracted to the elder¬ berries and black cherries growing in the brush below the parking lot.

The ponds are also home to large numbers of bullfrogs and painted turtles, which can be observed during any warm weather visit. There is also a single false map turtle living in the larger of the ponds, and he can often be spotted basking on a log next to his more colorful companions. This is not typical habitat for this species, which is usually found in swift flow¬ ing rivers. This individual, possibly came from the nearby Fox River and may have been released at the marsh.

This trail leads along the marsh’s northern edge toward the woods to the west. Two large shallow ponds just south (left) of die trail are the most interesting places for birding. Indeed, that is where we found the Sandhill Crane pair with a chick in 1994 and again in die summer of 1995. The parents and chick were seen at die first large shallow pond south of the trail.

Louisiana and Northern Water- thrushes use the ponds during spring migration and Soras have also been seen here in die spring when the sur¬ rounding vegetation is not yet too high and diick. Great Egrets (state- endangered) and Belted Kingfishers are fairly common around die ponds in spring and summer, and an occa¬ sional Black-crowned Night-Heron (state-endangered) as well as a Spot¬ ted or Solitary Sandpiper can also be seen at this dme of die year. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpipers stop at die second pond during fall migration.

Watch die first pond for giant snapping turtles which can some¬ times be seen cruising slowly along with their backs and heads just out of the water. On a good day, we have seen a score or more of these preda¬ tory turtles. Do not confuse diem widi the many non-native carp, which are always roiling up the shallows.

Cedar Waxwings, Eastern King¬ birds, and Tree, Bam, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows are com¬ mon throughout diis area in spring and summer. Willow Flycatchers can be found by taking the branch splitting off the main trail opposite the second pond. Black-billed Cuck¬ oos, uncommon summer residents, have been seen in this same section of woods during the spring and summer.

Vol. 5, No. 1

15

Area 4

The northwest comer of the pre¬ serve can be loosely described as sa¬ vanna. This area can be reached by following the trail from Area 3 straight up into die woods until it branches and taking the north (right) branch. The trail circles around and eventu¬ ally joins itself again near the starting point. Magnificent bur oak trees tower above undergrowth characteristic of old pastureland. Their field forms in¬ dicate that the uplands were probably true savanna in pre-settlement times. This area is the best place to see Indigo Buntings and House Wrens. Ring-necked Pheasants are often heard crowing here, and can sometimes be seen in the open grassy areas. There is also a bluebird trail running parallel to the fence line at the western edge of the preserve and extending from this area into Area 5. Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows have been seen inspecting them.

Area 5

Taking the south (left) branch at die previously mentioned junction leads through a strip of woodland bordering the marsh. This area also has huge old bur oak trees, with a thick invading understory of mostly black cherry trees. The area is under¬ going restoration work by The Nature Conservancy volunteers and the Kane County Forest Preserve District, and most of the undergrowth is being re¬ moved. Brush clearing has revealed a number of young bur oaks, the next generation of these savanna special¬ ists. Early spring migrants using the woods include White- throated and Fox Sparrows, Golden- and Ruby- crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers (state-threatened), Veerys (state- threatened), and Swainson’s, Gray¬ cheeked, and Hermit Thrushes. East¬

ern Phoebes and Great-crested Fly¬ catchers frequent the area in the sum¬ mer, and Cooper’s Hawks (state-en¬ dangered) and Great Homed Owls are occasionally observed. On a good day during fall migration large num¬ bers of warblers can be seen, particu¬ larly in the brushy growth along the fence line bordering the adjacent cornfields. American Redstarts, Canada, Magnolia, Black-and- White, and Wilson’s Warblers have been spotted working the fence line and adjacent trees for those last few calo¬ ries before moving farther south.

As the trail heads south it reaches a point where it keeps going straight or angles left through the woods. Going straight leads to a dead end, but taking the left branch leads to an over¬ look offering a sweeping view of the marsh and of Nelson Lake. The vista has few signs of human habitation and gives an idea of what this part of the state must have looked like before the settlers arrived. This spot can pro¬ vide some interesting birding, but a spotting scope is recommended.

Waterfowl, including Snow Geese, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, Green- winged and B lue- winged Teals, Northern Pintails, Wood Ducks, Shovelers, Gadwalls, Lesser Scaups, Ruddy Ducks, and Ring-necked Ducks use the lake dur¬ ing spring migration, along with oc¬ casional Pied-billed Grebes (state- endangered), Forster’s Terns (state- endangered), Double-crested Cormo¬ rants (state- threatened), American Coots, and Bonaparte’s Gulls. In the summer of 1991 a Ruddy Shelduck spent some time on the lake (probably the same bird that was seen later that year at Baker’s Lake near Barrington about 30 miles away).

From May through July Sand¬ hill Cranes are often heard calling and sometimes observed flying just above the marsh vegetation before dropping back down out of sight. You can also hear Marsh Wrens from the

area in front of the overlook, but see¬ ing them is more difficult.

In the fall, migrating Ruby- throated Hummingbirds feed on the jewelweeds immediately below the overlook, and hundreds of Purple Martins hawk insects over the lake. One year we observed an albino Purple Martin feeding with a flock of its normally colored cohorts.

After leaving the overlook, the trail heads north (right) along the east edge of the woods, affording further views of the marsh. In the spring this part of the path is bordered by won¬ derful blooms of wildflowers, the dis¬ play changing as the season progresses. This trail leads back to the starting point, and turning east (right) there takes the intrepid birder through Area 3 again and back to the parking lot.

Nelson Lake is also known for its wealth of lepidopteran species. Almost any visitduring the main flight season (May - August) will yield monarchs, viceroys, alfalfas, pearl crescents, and least skipperlings, along with the occasional comma, question mark, and tiger and black swallow¬ tail. Accidental and habitat-restricted species we have recorded include gi¬ ant swallowtails and meadow fritil- laries in Area 1, and Baltimores, banded hairstreaks, eyed browns and black dash, fiery, Dion, and broad¬ winged skippers in Area 3. Bring along a butterfly field guide and your enjoy¬ ment of this natural area will be doubled.

Acknowledgments

We thank Bob Montgomery of the Max McGraw Wildlife Foun¬ dation and Ann Haverstock for pro¬ viding us with Illinois Breeding Bird Atlas information.

— Reason and Bent 3513 Park Ave.

Brookfield , IL 60513

16

Meadowlark

FEEDER STATION

Makeshift trees help photographer get natural shots of woodpeckers in his backyard

by Kevin Wright

&

As an avid photographer and backyard bird feeder, I have often pon¬ dered the difficulties of photographing one of my favorite backyard birds - the wood¬ pecker. When a family member told me that an extremely large tree limb had fallen to the ground, I devised a way to get great shots of woodpeckers in my backyard. After at first wondering how I was going to get rid of this huge, cumbersome limb, I decided instead to plant it in my backyard. I could actually get three nice limbs from this tree.

I soon had the limbs home and strate¬ gically placed throughout the yard. These “trees” were placed in the ground much like you would place a bird feeder. I basi¬ cally dug a hole and “planted” the trees.

For the best photos, I decided the trees had to be set up so that the birds would feed off of them yet at the same time the setting would need to be as natural looking as possible. So, I drilled holes into the sides of the trees, then stuffed each with a small piece of beef suet. Then I could get some natural looking shots. As long as I positioned myself in front of the tree so the holes could not be seen, everything appeared in its natural state. What a great way to feed and photograph birds. Your backyard habitat is also a great photography studio. Use it to its fullest.

— Wright 836 E. Ash Canton, IL 61520

Wood Thrush Feeds Nesting Material to Fledgling

Drawing by Denis Kania

Vol. 5, No. 1

Wood Thrushes ( Hylocichla tnustelina ) breed in deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests throughout Illinois. The morning of 26 June 1993, I found a nearly completed Wood Thrush nest after I had tracked a singing and calling male for about 15 minutes. The nest was approximately 1.5 m high in a 2.4 m sapling on a study site of mixed coniferous and deciduous forest 3 km north of the Mississippi Palisades State Park, Carroll County, Illinois.

After standing at the nest for about 1 minute, I noticed two Wood Thrush fledglings calling from a 6 m high branch about 10 m away. An adult, presumably a female because the male was still singing, began churring nearby. She then landed on the same branch as the fledglings with

her bill full of straw and dead leaves. I thought this was nesting material. But immediately after she saw me standing at the nest, she stuffed the closest begging fledgling’s mouth with straw and dead leaves, and flew away.

The fledgling first tried to swallow the material, but soon began choking up pieces of straw and dead leaves. The nest contained eggs when checked two weeks later. A literature search found no pub¬ lished observations of this behavior in any bird species.

— Robb T. Brumfield Laboratory of Molecular Systematics National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution MRC 534, Washington DC 20560

17

AVIAN ARCHIVES

by Charles “Ted” Black

The Brendel Early Peoria Bird Lists

The contributions of Frederick Brendel to early Illi¬ nois bird history have long been ignored. I here discuss his three early Peoria bird lists and indicate why they have so long been overlooked. It is my purpose to correct this omission and give Brendel the credit he deserves.

Background

The only reference to Brendel in Illinois bird annals is that of Robert Ridgway, who lists in the bibliography of his “The Ornithology of Illinois” 1889: “Brendel, F. — Vogel der Umgegend Peorias in Illinois. Giebel’s Zeticsh. Fur Naturw., 1857, 420. (Not seen by me.).” Apparently this article in an obscure German language journal was not available to him, and has not been pursued by others. I found it in the University of Illinois (Cham- paign/Urbana) library, copied, and translated It. The translated title is “Birds of the Vicinity of Peoria in Illinois.” Brendel also reported a few Peoria birds in another article in this journal in 1859.

Also ignored are Brendel’ s bird lists in two old Peoria Histories (1870, 1880), which I also examined in the University of Illinois library. Bird accounts in these old county histories are typically ignored as they are short and popularly written, often with vernacular names. Most

The 1857 List

BrendeTs 1857 article consists of a short intro¬ duction and a list of scientific bird family and species names (no common names), with comments for sev¬ eral species. The text is very short:

“Following is a list for you of the birds that I have observed until now in the area around Peoria. In addition I am adding some special investigations, but I intend to complete them and communicate them to you in the future.”

The sequence of birds in the list and most of the scientific names follow the taxonomy of his time and differ from current terminology, This challenged my identifying many birds in the list. Determining iden¬ tity often involved considerable research in taxo¬ nomic literature. Fortunately, many others bore cur¬ rent names.

This list totals 81 species - 34 waterfowl and marsh birds, 14 raptors and game birds, but only 33

such bird lists hardly qualify as credible scientific ac¬ counts. In contrast, Brendel’ s lists are substantially com¬ plete with scientific and near-standard names.

I have filed copies of the above translation and the lists in the Peoria Histories with the Illinois State Museum.

Frederick Brendel

Brendel was bom in what is now Germany in 1820. There he received his medical training and developed an interest in botany. Following the political revolution of 1848, he came to the United States in 1850. In 1852, he settled in Peoria where he lived until his death in 1912. He is best known as one of Illinois’ prominent early botanists, yet he also recorded much early Peoria bird history. His 1857 list is contemporary with those of Kennicott for Cook County (1854) and Pratten for Wayne and Edwards Counties (1855), and with Holder’s list of Illinois birds (1861). Brendel’s 1870 and 1880 lists are contemporary with that of Nelson for northeastern Illinois (1876). Brendel ranks with such early physician- naturalists as Phil R. Hoy of Racine, Wisconsin, who contributed to early knowledge of birds of the Chicago region, and Jared B. Kirtland of Cleveland, Ohio, for whom the Kirtland’ s Warbler was named. Brendel was quite the versatile classic naturalist of his day!

other birds. It is apparently a preliminary list for it lacks many small birds such as warblers and vireos. Remarkably, for 26 species he gives measurements of total length, wingspread, and standard wing length, which I found useful in confirming some of his iden¬ tifications.

As expected he lists species long gone from Peoria - Passenger Pigeon, W ild Turkey, Greater Prai¬ rie-chicken, Sandhill Crane, and Trumpeter Swan. He also lists a few others not to be expected readily today, Snowy Egret, White-fronted Goose, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Snowy, Owl, Bohemian Wax wing, and North¬ ern Shrike (identification confirmed by measurements).

He made some interesting comments. For the Turkey Vulture, he said that it is found “in the southern part of the state, much more widespread than here.” He also stated that the Cooper’s Hawk frequently follows the Passenger Pigeon. There is evidently an error when he states that the Red-shouldered Hawk

18

Meadowlark

“comes in autumn over the Great Lakes.” There may be confusion here with the Rough-legged Hawk, in my opinion. He may be somewhat justified in his mistakes, for in some of the terminology of his day, the Red-shouldered Hawk had the common name of Winter Hawk. For the Long-eared Owl he gives the measurements of the external ear. He describes the Snowy Owl as “banded dirty-white and brown.” Along with the Sandhill Crane, he lists another crane to which he gives a new name, Gurs cinerea. He states, “I have two specimens, male and female, that were shot together. I find them in no American catalog.” The measurements he presents are those of the Sandhill Crane, too small for the Whooping Crane. These birds may well have been rust-stained Sandhill Cranes.

Another Brendel article in 1859 in the same journal pertains to a variety of natural history items, but adds the White Pelican to his Peoria list giving its measurements and those of other waterfowl.

The 1870 List

Brendefs list in the 1870 Peoria History totals 177 species, with few comments. It includes 61 waterfowl and marsh birds, 23 raptor and game birds, and 93 other birds. Regarding the Carolina Parakeet, he states, “the swarms of paroquets, which rambled formerly in the woods along the (Illinois) river, are gone forever.” Outstanding additions to the 1857 list are the earliest Illinois record of the Glossy Ibis, and the second earliest Illinois record of the Wood Stork. Also added to the 1857 list are the White Pelican, Whooping Crane, Long-billed Curlew, Swallow-tailed

Kite, Golden Eagle “scarce — only one specimen seen,” Bald Eagle “mostly seen in a young state with brown head and tail,” and Evening Grosbeak “which was observed only once.” He corrects an error in the 1857 list, substituting Great Egret for Snowy Egret. He lists Royal Tern (a common error in some early lists), which undoubtedly should be Caspian Tern, which is missing.

The 1880 List

Brendefs list in the 1980 Peoria History is largely a repeat of the 1870 list, but totals 185 species (not 181 as given in the text). It includes 65 water- fowl and marsh birds, 23 raptors and game birds, and 97 other birds. The nine added species are common birds not mentioned in earlier accounts. There are few comments. Golden Eagle “which is very scarce,” Wood Stork and Glossy Ibis, “both stragglers from the South.” This same list also appeared in a 1902 Peoria County History.

Comparison with the Loucks List

The Brendel lists compare favorably with the better known Loucks list (1892) of 160 species (after removal of three sub-species) in Peoria and Tazewell Counties — 44 waterfowl and marsh birds, 26 raptors and game birds, and 90 other birds. However, the Loucks’ account is more complete, giving seasonal occurrence, abundance, breeding status, and nest records.

— Black 4714 Van Atta Road Okernos, MI 48864

Literature Cited

Brendel, F. 1857. Vogel der Ungegend Peorias in Illinois. Giebel’s Zeitschrift fur die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften 9:420-425.

Brendel, F., 1 859 . Zoologischs beabachtungen brieflich mitzetheildt von Dr. Fr. Brednel in Peoria. Giebel’s Zeitschrift fur die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften 13:31- 40.

Brendel, F. 1870. The Fauna of Peoria, birds pp. 218- 222 in The History of Peoria Illinois by C. Ballance; Nason, Peoria.

Brendel, F. 1880, Physical Features and Natural His¬ tory, birds, pp. 279-299, in the History of Peoria County; Johnson and Co., Chicago.

Vol. 5, No. 1

Loucks, W.E. 1892, Birds of Peoria and Tazewell Counties. Illinois MS in Peoria Public Library.

Ridgway, R. 1889. The Ornithology of Illinois. State University of Natural History Part 1 Vol 1, 540 pp. Springfield, IL.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Betty Roberson of the Peoria Public Li¬ brary for providing biographical information on Frederick Brendel and providing copies of the text form the Peoria Histories and a copy of the Loucks manuscript. Thanks also to Kathy Juntunen, German teacher at Okernos High School, for assistance in perfecting my translation of the Brendel article.

19

SEASONAL HIGHLIGHTS - Breeding Season 1995

Earliest Mourning Dove Nest in Illinois

During the first week of February 1995, Jane Friedman called to tell me about a Mourning Dove ( Zenaida tnacroura ) nesting in her Chicago backyard. She told me the cup-shaped, mainly mud nest, 20 feet above ground, was 3 feet from the house under an aluminum awning within an urban setting. Mourning Doves typically begin nesting in northeastern Illinois in early May (Hanson and Kossack 1963). The early date prompted me to visit Friedman’s home where I confirmed that a Mourning Dove was indeed sitting on two eggs inside a mud-filled cup, a deserted American Robin’ s nest. To my knowledge, this is the earliest Mourning Dove nest in Illinois.

Friedman said she saw the dove on its nest on 4 Feb. after having heard in January frequent courtship ‘cooings’ and observing material being added to this former robin’s nest. On 1 1 Feb. I took photographs of the dove on the nest.

Despite daytime temperatures during the first half of February which were well below freezing, a nearly ready-to-fledge Mourning Dove peeked out of the nest on 26 Feb. All the young fledged, although one became dinner for a local cat.

This species typically makes two to three brood attempts per season although six broods have been re¬ ported (Ehrlich and Dobkin 1988). Captive and wild dove studies have shown that 30 days is the most frequent time interval between young fledgling and the onset of a new nest (Hanson and Kossack 1963).

Interestingly, two new young were observed in this same nest on 1 April 1996. This would mean eggs would have been laid prior to mid-March since incubation alone takes 14 days (Mirarchi and Baskett 1994). These doves probably started the second nest approximately a week after the first brood fledged.

This nesting cycle continued as two more eggs were laid in the same nest by 20 April and a ready-to-fledge young was seen on 1 1 May. A fourth attempt in the same nest produced two eggs on 20 May and a hatchling on 10 June. These additional nestings commenced within days of fledging. If these four nestings were by the same pair, it would tie the Illinois record set by a fertile Boone County dove pair in the late 1950s (Hanson and Kossack 1963).

Most Mourning Dove nests in northeastern Illinois start in mid-May with no nest ever found prior to April (Jlanson and Kossack 1963 and an author’s review of

20

published Illinois breeding season notes from all issues of Meadowlark and Illinois Birds & Birding). Despite the paucity of published early breeding records, Vernon Kleen, avian ecologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said some nests might be started in mid-March in a rare year in extreme southern Illinois. Nesting occurs in late February to early March in south¬ ern U.S. latitudes (Mirarchi and Baskett 1994). With the date of this Chicago nesting at least as early as 4 Feb., this may represent the earliest nesting for this species north of the 38 degree latitude.

The same deserted robins’ mud nest was reused four consecutive times. The average number of renestings in the same nest is 1.13 in Illinois; the time gap between nestings was several days as compared with the Illinois average of 30 days between nestings (Mirarchi and Bas¬ kett 1994). The same pair probably attempted a minimum of four nests. Illinois’ average is 2.0. Every nest was successful. Illinois’ average nest success rate is 66% (Mirarchi and Baskett 1994). This pair probably produced eight eggs and at least six young fledged. The average number of young fledged per pair is only 2.38 in Illinois; the national average is 3.6 (Mirarchi and Baskett 1994).

Warm temperatures, especially at night, is a signifi¬ cant factor in determining the onset of breeding in Mourning Doves (Mirarchi and Baskett 1994, Hanson and Kossack 1963) The warmest January in Chicago history was 1995. In fact, a warming trend the last week of January put temperatures well above freezing. What¬ ever the reasons, this pair of Mounting Doves broke most Illinois conventions and expectations regarding its typical breeding cycle.

— Eric Walters 6525 North Bosworth Chicago, IL 60626

Literature Cited

Ehrlich, P. R., Dobkin, D. S., and D.Wheye. 1988. The Birder’s Handbook. Simon and Schuster. New York.

Mirarchi, R.E. and T.S. Baskett. 1994. Mourning Dove. In “The Birds of North America, #117. Philadel¬ phia: Academy of Natural Sciences.

Hanson, H.C. and C.W. Kossack. 1963. The Mount¬ ing Dove in Illinois. Illinois Dept. Conserv. Tech. Bull. #2, SIU Press, Carbondale.

Terres, John K. 1991. The Audubon Society Encyclo¬ pedia of North American Birds. Wings Books. New York.

Meadowlark

Scissor -tailed Flycatcher in McHenry County

At 10a.m. 6 June 1995, Dave Miller of McHenry was driving north on Route 31 north of the village of Ringwood and south of the entrance to the McHenry County Conservation District’s Glacial Park. Out of the comer of his eye, Miller noted an unusual bird silhouette on a western fence line. He pulled over to look and discov¬ ered an unmistakable male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus) perched on the fence by an orchard. The bird flew up and off along the fenceline hawking for insects. It landed so Miller could get a second good look before it flew off with a spread tail.

Miller drove quickly to the nearby conservation dis¬ trict office and called me. Twenty minutes later I was there and saw the bird sitting on the same fence, as Miller drove toward me from the north. I enjoyed a good 15 minutes viewing the bird as it perched and flew over the field near the fence before it finally flew across the highway in front of my car to give me an even better look. The lighting could not have been better for us to see the bird. Total viewing time was about an hour.

—Darlene Fisk 9313 Bull Valley Road Woodstock , IL 60098

Literature Cited

Bohlen, H. D. 1989. The birds of Illinois. Indiana University Press. Bloomington, IN.

Dudek, T. 1996. Meadowlark, A Journal of Illinois Birds 4:4. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Visits DeKalb County.

McKee, J. And C. 1994. Meadowlark, A Journal of Illinois Birds 3: 19-20. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in Pulaski County.

Three Black-throated Green Warblers in Lake County During Breeding Season

While doing a breeding bird population survey at the Ryerson Conservation Area in Lake County die summer of 1995, I discovered three separate singing Black-throated Green Warblers ( Dendroica virens). On 17 June 1995, while walking a padi across a small, restored prairie toward an oak flat woods, I heard die unmistakable song of a Black-throated Green Warbler. The warbler was singing in a wooded area west of die

Mourning Dove on nest in Chicago backyard on the incredibly early date of 11 Feb. 1995. Nest was successfid despite freezing temperatures later in the month, Photo by Eric Walters.

Miller returned in the evening and saw die bird in the same area. Odier birders tried to find the bird the next day, but widiout success. Mider’s photographs are on file widi Vein Kleen of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was seen 10 July 1993 in Pulaski County (McKee 1994), another was seen 25 April 1995 in DeKalb County (Dudek 1996). There are no positive breeding records for Idinois for diis species, considered a rare vagrant in the state. Prior to the McHenry, DeKalb, and Pulaski County sightings, there were at least 38 state records for this species, mosdy from spring and summer (Bohlen 1989). Scissor-tails nest as close as north-central Missouri and die po¬ tential exists for this species to nest in Illinois (Bohlen 1989).

Vol. 5, No. 1

21

home of Ryerson Woods’ naturalist Nan Buckardt and east of a small group of conifers, approximately 40-to 50-feet tall.

This bird was singing in an area where Buckardt had heard another Black- throated Green Warbler sing during June and July two summers ago (Nan Buckardt,

pers. com.).

I listened to the bird sing for 6 minutes before I had to move on to my next stop. The survey was set up with listening stops, about 100 to 150 feet apart with 6 minutes spent recording birds heard and seen at each stop. About 18 minutes (three stops) later as I walked dirough the flatwoods, I heard another Black-throated Green Warbler singing from a group of deciduous trees including oaks near Riverwoods Road. This bird was singing near an area where several Veeries successfully nested in 1995.

Then, 24 minutes later (four stops later), as I neared the Des Plaines River, I heard yet another Black-throated Green Warbler singing. This bird was also singing in a deciduous forested area, although it was closer to riverine habitat than the flatwood habitats where the other two birds were heard.

The Black- throated Green Warbler had not been confirmed as a breeder in Illinois until the summer of 1994 when Brian Condon and Scott K. Robinson located the state’s first two Black- throated Green Warbler nests in white pine trees at Lowden-Miller State Forest (Robin¬ son 1995). The discovery was made while Robinson and student researchers were conducting a breeding bird census of the area. Part of the Lowden-Miller State Forest contains an old white pine plantation where ap¬ proximately 15 Black- throated Green Warbler territories had been established and at least one fledgling was seen (Robinson 1995),

The Black-throated Green Warbler is a fairly com¬ mon breeder in Wisconsin (DeSante and Pyle 1986), and breeds as close to Illinois as Central Wisconsin (Bohlen 1989). Some Black-throated Green Warblers have oversummered in Illinois including one discovered in Woodstock from 9 July to 13 July, 1983 (Bohlen 1989). Ihe species prefers woodland areas typically open woods and northern coniferous forests with large pines (Terres 1991) and nests in conifers, oaks, and cypress trees.

I heard the Black- throated Green Warbler at the first Ryerson Conservation Area site sing one more time during my transect stops in the latter part of June, but I never again located the other two, and can not confirm that the same bird was not singing at all three transect stops, although it seems highly unlikely. My discovery at Ryerson Woods, however, should encourage birders to consider the possibility of more locations of Black-

22

Female Chestnut-sided Warbler on nest in eastern Will County. This represents the county's first nesting record. 28 June 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

throated Green Warblers in the state during the breeding season, as well as encourage scientists to continue studying whether and how this species’ breeding status in Illinois is changing.

— Sheryl De Vore 967 Brae burn Road Mundelein, 1L 60060

Literature Cited

Bohlen, H. D. 1989. The birds of Illinois. Indiana University Press. Bloomington, IN.

DeSante, D. And Pyle, P. 1986. Distributional Check¬ list of North American Birds, Volume 1. Artemisia Press, Lee Vining, California.

Robinson, S. 1995. Rare summer birds of the Lowden Miller State Forest: Is this really Illinois. Meadowlark 4:16-18.

Terres, J. K. 1991. Ihe Audubon Society Encyclope¬ dia of North American Birds. Wings Books. New York, New York.

Breeding Chestnut-sided Warblers in Eastern Will County

Although I have spent many summers in the field studying and surveying the breeding birds of western Will County, I have only had one early summering record for

Meadowlark

the Chestnut-sided Warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica), that of a singing male at Joliet on 8 June 1992. I was, therefore, quite excited to find the species present at all four of the forest preserve holdings along Plum Creek in eastern Will County that I had been contracted by the Will County Forest Preserve District to survey during the 1995 breeding season. During the period 30 May to 11 July, I observed a minimum of nine Chestnut-sided Warblers (three females and six males) at these forest preserves.

Chestnut-sided Warblers do have some precedent in this area of Will County (Graber 1983). Most recently, as Breeding Bird Atlas Coordinator for Will County, I received data during 1986 through 1991 for the presence of this species during breeding season from two atlas blocks in eastern Will County. The data suggest that this warbler, a rare summer resident in northern Illinois (Bohlen 1989), may have some breeding season presence in eastern Will County.

Male Chestnut-sided Warbler on territory in eastern Will County,

16 June 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

The Chestnut-sided Warblers occupied two types of breeding habi¬ tats at the four preserves in eastern Will County. At two preserves, the warblers occupied brushy succes- sional fields with hilly topography that sloped into more mature growth along either the Plum Creek flood¬ plain or mesic uplands. These old fields were dominated by various brushy shrub species, including vari¬ ous hawthorns and multi-flora rose.

In these two field areas, I ob¬ served at least five different Chest¬ nut-sided Warblers: one pair on ter¬

ritory, one anxious female, and two agitated males (one carrying food). In one field, at least two different males could be heard singing simultaneously.

The second breeding niche area for Chestnut-sided Warblers at the other two forest preserves was in forest clearings. At one preserve, a male was found singing on 30 May along oak-hickory edge created along a right-of- way clearcut for a pipeline through an upland mesic area.

The two singing males found 4 June at the other preserve were in a narrow clearing cut to accommodate survey markers for development and along a wider, brushy right-of-way cut. Once again, both areas were upland mesic habitat.

On 28 June, while observing the pipeline male, which by this date I was certain was unmated, I unintentionally flushed a female Chestnut-sided Warbler from her nest. The nest was built about 2 feet off the ground in gray dogwood and blackberry brambles near the edge of the oak-hickory woods. The somewhat loosely constructed nest contained four eggs, two of which were Brown¬ headed Cowbird eggs. The Chestnut-sided Warbler is a frequent cowbird host, but apparently does have die ca¬ pacity to destroy eggs by building over them (Ehrlich, Dobkin, and Wheye 1988). The female warbler remained very near the nest even while I photographed it at close range.

In the past, I have removed cowbird eggs from song¬ bird nests (e.g. Wood Thrush and Lark Sparrow) without interfering with the host species’ nesting cycle. So I

carefully removed the cowbird eggs with a twig, without touch¬ ing the nest. I deposited the eggs far from the site.

When I moved away from die nest, die female quickly returned and even permitted me to photo¬ graph her on it. I observed die male feeding die female while she was incubating die eggs. This nest represents the first nest record and first definitive breed¬ ing evidence for this warbler in Will County.

When I returned to die pipe¬ line right-of-way on 3 J uly, I heard die male Chestnut-sided Warbler still singing, but found die nest unattended and infested with ants. The two warbler eggs were un¬ damaged and still in die nest. As I moved toward die male, I once again unintentionally flushed die

Parasitized Chestnut-sided Warbler nest, Will Co., 28 June 1995. This represents the first nest record for Will County. This nest contained two warbler eggs and two cowbird eggs. The female built two additional nests after abandoning this one. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich

Vol. 5, No. 1

23

female from a second nest approximately 50 yards from the first. Similarly, this newly constructed nest was about knee-high in an ash sapling in a more open area near the middle of the right-of-way. Using a stick to gently move aside the vegetation, I saw one warbler egg in the nest. I quickly retreated in order to avoid further disturbing the female.

On my last visit to the right-of-way on 11 July, the first nest still contained the two warbler eggs, but the second nest now contained only one cowbird egg and shell fragments. The female was nowhere to be seen. As I walked away from the second nest site, I passed near the spot where the male was occasionally singing an afternoon song.

The female flushed out of dense, waist-high vegeta¬ tion at the edge of the woods where a third nest had been constructed. Although I never approached the nest closely, with the aid of a long stick, I was able to part the weedy growth just enough to surmise that the nest appeared to be completely constructed, but held no eggs. It was located between the first two nests, about equi¬ distant between them. The female flushed from her third nest well in advance of my approach. With the first and second nests, I practically stepped on her before flushing her from the egg-bearing nests. I left quickly and never returned.

— Joe B. Milosevich 2337 Ardaugh Avenue Crest Hill, IL 60435

Literature Cited

Bohlen, H.D. 1989. The Birds of Illinois. Indiana University Press. Bloomington, IN.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin and D. Wheye. 1988. The Birder’s Handbook. Simon and Schuster. New York.

Graber, J.W. and R.R. Graber. 1983. Illinois Birds: wood warblers. Illinois Natural History Survey Biological Notes No. 118. Champaign, IL.

Mlodinow, S. 1984. Chicago Area Birds. Chicago Review Press. Chicago, IL.

Thom Creek Audubon Society. 1983. September - October newsletter 11:5.

Editor’s Note: While documentation is necessary to confirm the nesting of a rare species, care must be taken not to interrupt a bird’s breeding cycle. While every bird is different in its reaction to human presence, there is always the danger that the disturbance will hamper the bird's ability to produce young successfully.

It is true that songbirds such as the Chestnut-sided Warbler can not detect human presence by smell, but predators such as raccoons can detect the human smell and may be attracted to the nest site for that reason.

I strongly caution birders to take great care when observing birds regardless of whether it is for documen¬ tation purposes or enjoyment.

- Sheryl De Vore, Chief Editor

First Successful and Third Confirmed Nesting of Black-necked Stilt in Illinois

After hearing of a sighting of Black-necked Stilts ( Himantopus mexicanus) in Jackson County in late July, Vicki Van Tuyle and I went to visit the area. We arrived on 29 July 1995 at the southwestern comer of the county where Cemetery Road meets the levee of the Mississippi River. Prom the levee looking back east was a mostly dried, muddy slough.

We saw three stilts: two adults and a smaller bird that could have been a young bird since it appeared unable to fly, was not as tall, and had spindly, duller pink legs. The young bird also had a brown back, brown wings, and white stomach. We drove back down closer to the slough and got out of the car. As we approached the birds, the smaller bird ran with flapping wings into the grass and the adults attacked us, flying around, per¬ forming the broken wing trick, and calling loudly. Be¬ cause the adults were having such a fit, we quickly returned to the car without relocating the young bird. The adults flew back to the slough. Driving north along the levee toward Grand Tower we saw a second pair of adult Black-necked Stilts, but no young.

This report represents the third confirmed nesting of Black-necked Stilt in Illinois, and the first young seen. The first record of nesting success occurred 4 June 1994 when Cynthia McKee found a Black-necked Stilt sitting on a nest, also in Jackson County near where the 1995 bird was found (McKee and Pink 1995). On 11 June, Todd Pink discovered a nest with four eggs at the same site, which he photographed. But no evidence of fledglings was ever found.

Fink also discovered up to six stilts in the flooded fields outside the levee in Jackson County between 19 June and 7 July 1993. Two more stilts were found 20 June 1993 east of Grand Tower Island. No nest was found, but observers witnessed distraction displays on 24 June 1993 (Fink 1994).

24

Meadowlark

A second nest for Illinois was discovered by Kevin Richmond on 27 June 1994 190 miles north in Mason County at Lake Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge (Fink 1994).

These confirmed nesting records for Black-necked Stilt in Illinois could be part of a dramatic expansion of the species’ breeding range that has been occurring in the neighboring states of Missouri and Kentucky (Robbins and Easterla 1992, Ball and Bennett 1993).

— H. David Bohlen Illinois State Museum Springfield, IL 62706

Literature Cited

Fink, T. 1994. Meadowlark 3:18. Breeding evidence for Black-necked Stilt in Jackson County.

McKee, C. And Fink, T. 1995. Meadowlark 4:6. First Confirmed Nesting of Black-necked Stilt in Illinois.

Palmer-Ball, M. B., and M. Bennet. 1993. First Re¬ ported Nesting of Black-necked Stilt in Kentucky. The Kentucky Warbler 69: 65-68.

Robbins, M. And D. Easterla. 1992. Birds of Missouri: their distribution and abundance. University of Missouri Press.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher drawing by Karen Becker.

High Count of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Territories in Lake County, Illinois

The summer of 1995, birders observed at least 31 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) territo¬ ries in Lake County. Twenty-three were found near Millbum Township and seven were discovered at Ryer- son Conservation Area - both during contracted breeding bird population surveys.

Bohlen (1989) listed the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher as a decreasing summer resident northward of southern Illi¬ nois and said few gnatcatchers nest north of Illinois. Mlodinow (1984) mentioned a high count of 15 birds at southeastern Michigan’s Warren Woods, Beverly Shores, and New Buffalo areas on 15 June 1978. However, 21 territories were recorded in Cook County in early June 1994 (Kleen, 1995; fide A. Anderson).

A single site location in Lake County, Chain O’ Lakes State Park held 13 individuals on 29 June 1991 (Kleen 1992). Recent breeding bird atlas data (R. Montgomery, in Litt.) and our recent summer breeding bird data along the Millbum Creek corridor in Lake County, Illinois, as well as Ryerson Conservation Area, also in Lake County, suggest that the species may be having good breeding success in northeastern Illinois. It may also be establish¬ ing itself as an increasingly more regular summer

Vol. 5, No. 1

25

breeding resident along river and creek corridors in bottom and other woodlands in northern Illinois.

During the summer of 1995 (15 June - 1 August), Steve Apfelbaum and David Johnson recorded an esti¬ mated 24 territories (defined as a male singing at or near the same location for more than one week apart) of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in north central Lake County between the town of Millbum and Interstate 94 along Millbum Creek and its tributaries. Birds were recorded along a transect route with 2-minute listening stops every 150 yards and a plot estimate of each singing male recorded on a transect map. Gnatcatchers during June were quite vocal and defended territories. Each territory was estimated from at least four early morning visits to each listening stop and two evening visits. Breeding was also confirmed when an adult gnatcatcher was seen feeding young on 19 July approximately one-fourth of a mile northeast of the town of Millbum.

While doing a similar breeding survey at Ryerson Conservation Area in Lake County only with 6-minute transect stops, Sheryl De Vore recorded at least seven territories within the preserve. Her report is on file with the Lake County Forest Preserves (De Vore 1995). Breeding was confirmed when De Vore discovered a pair at a nest site near the Exhibit Cabin. Observers in northern Illinois are urged to report all summer singing males and breeding evidence for gnatcatchers to Mead¬ owlark and Vernon Kleen.

— David B. Johnson 504 Crown Point Drive, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089

— Steven I. Apfelbaum Applied Ecological Services, Inc.

17921 Smith Road, P.O. Box 256, Brodhead, WI 53520

— Sheryl De Vore 967 Braeburn Road, Mundelein, IL 60060

Literature Cited

De Vore, S. 1995. Report of the Breeding Bird Survey of the Ryerson Conservation Area.

Deerfield, Illinois, 1 June 1995 - 12 July 1995, unpub¬ lished, on file with Lake County Forest Preserves.

Mlodinow, S. 1984. Chicago Area Birds. Chicago Review Press. Chicago IL.

Bohlen, H. D. 1989. The birds of Illinois. Indiana LIniversity Press. Bloomington IN.

Kleen, V.M. 1995. The 1994 breeding season. Meadowlark 4: 34.

Kleen, V.M. 1992. 1991 breeding season. Meadow¬ lark 1: 36.

Nesting Common Terns in Lake County

For the second year in a row, Common Terns ( Sterna hirundo ) nested on the spits of land which jut out into the water in a pond located on the Johns-Mansville property just south of Illinois Beach State Park in Lake County. There is no public access to this pond, but distant viewing is possible with a spotting scope.

By 29 May 1995, the first three Common Terns were seen at the pond. On 3 1 May, the number was up to 16. However, water levels were fairly high, thus only small areas of land were available above the waterline. No signs of nesting activity were present on this date and the Common Terns were spread out among more than 100 Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls and a few Caspian Terns (S. caspia).

My next visit was on 25 June when I discovered 31 adult Common Terns. Between 12 to 14 appeared to be sitting on nests. I saw no young. The terns tolerated the two Caspian Terns and 100 gulls.

On 22 July, I found 37 adult Common Terns, together with 22 young which varied from recently hatched to some almost as large as their parents. Any gull, duck, goose or Great Blue Heron which came near the nest area was attacked by up to 10 adult Common Terns. At this time, the terns tolerated no bird larger than small shorebirds on this spit of land.

At my next visit, 19 August, I saw no sign of adult or young at the nesting colony, although I occasionally noticed one or two Common Terns flying along Lake Michigan’s shoreline.

Unlike the summer of 1994 when I checked the nesting colony every Saturday and Sunday during June, July and early August, my 1995 visits were limited to 29 and 31 May, 25 June, 22 July, and 19 August. Still, a few comparisons can be made.

In 1994, the first Common Tern did not arrive at the nesting site until 5 June. In 1995, 1 found three on 29 May and 16 on 3 1 May. In 1994, by 25 June, I found 18 adults with two active nests. In contrast during 1995, I dis¬ covered 31 adults with 12 to 14 active nests. In 1994, the maximum number of adults seen at the nest colony at one time was 21. In 1995, the high adult count was 37. I found eight young in 1994 and 22 in 1995.

— Alan Stokie 174 E. Kathleen Drive Park Ridge, IL 60068

26

Meadowlark

Common Tern drawing by David Athans.

1995 Breeding Season Report

by Vernon M. Kleen

The 1995 Breeding Season was a good year for nesting herons and grassland species in Illinois; it also rendered a number of interesting highlights including summer occurrences of Ospreys near Rockford (this spe¬ cies has not raised any known young in Illinois in 45 years), increasing numbers of Cooper’s Hawks reports, continuing success for Chicago-nesting Peregrine Fal¬ cons, increasing populations of Northern Bobwhites, sev¬ eral reported broods of King Rails and Common Moorhens, the westward spread of nesting Sandhill Cranes, continu¬ ing expansion of nesting Black-necked Stilts, successful nesting of Common Terns, recently fledged Bam Owls, fair numbers of summer Alder and Least Flycatchers, a nesting Western Kingbird, young Red-breasted Nuthatches, a summering Solitary Vireo, the continuing lack of Swainson’s Warblers, summering Mourning and Canada Warblers, good numbers of Henslow’ s Sparrows, and the first summer records for Trumpeter Swans.

As usual there were numerous June and July occur¬ rences of non-breeding birds throughout the state. Tradi¬ tionally, those records which were not late spring or early fall records had been incorporated into the body of this report; now, however, they appear in the Non-Breeding Summer Occurrences supplement at the end.

1995 marked the third year for the near completion of all 81 of Illinois’ Breeding Bird Survey routes; data from these routes have been used for nearly 30 years to detect the short-term and long-term population changes of Illi¬ nois’ breeding species. Many thanks to the many volun¬ teers who faithfully conduct these surveys every year.

Weatherwise, June and July were rather normal. The official records indicate that June temperatures were nor¬ mal and July temperatures averaged 1.1 degrees above normal. June precipitation averaged a fraction of an inch

Vol. 5, No. 1

below normal and July precipitation averaged 0.6 inches below normal.

As usual, this compilation could not be possible without the ongoing support of dozens of dedicated ob¬ servers and reporters. Persons responsible for records in the accompanying species accounts are acknowledged individually after their records. Considerable effort has been made to be sure that all information is correct and properly credited; all records can be substantiated by original source documents in the permanent record file. The observers and contributors for this report are as follows: Alan Anderson, Cindy Alberico, Ed Anderson, Louise Augustine, Alan Branhagen, David Bohlen, Marge Bjorklund (MBj), Richard Bjorklund (RBj), Renee Baade (RBa), Karin Cassel, Paul Clyne, Robert Chapel, Larry David, Myma Deaton, Sheryl De Vore, Carolyn Fields, Brad Glover, Ann Haverstock, Barrie Hunt, Duane Heaton, James Herkert, Jim Hampson (JHa), James Hart (JHt), Mary Hennen, Ralph Herbst, David Johnson, Dan Kassebaum, Fred Kase, Vernon Kleen, James Landing, Steven Lee, Bill Moskoff, Cindy McKee (CMc), David Mandell, David Miller (DMi), Joe Milosevich, John McKee (JMc), Judy Mellin (JMe), Keith McMullen, Margo Milde, Walter Marcisz, Clark Olson, Lawrence O’Neal, Dale Pontius, Judy Pol¬ lock, Peter Petersen, Kevin Richmond, A1 Stokie, Brad Semel, James Smith, Jeff Sunberg (JSn), Joe Suchecki (JSu), Leonard Stanley, Mark Seiffert, Mary Sidney (MSi), Richard Sandburg, Scott Simpson, Wes Serafin, Craig Thayer, Doris Westfall, Eric Walters, Evelyn Walters (EvW), Gil Waldbauer, Geoff Williamson (GWi), and Jeff Walk.

As standard policy, all observers, regardless of expe¬ rience, must fully document all unusual observations.

27

BREEDING SEASON - Field Notes

Pied-billed Grebe

Broods: DGEFG (3 yg.), 1 1 July-3 Aug. (CF); FCal (7=1-6 yg ./ brood), 12 June-6 Aug. (WM); Chi (Egger’s W.) (1 yg.), 3 July (WM); Riverdale (2 yg.), 27 June (WM); KCP, 25 May (JS); Havana (Mason Co) (15), 29 July (RC). MC: 30+ (ad.), Havana (Mason Co), 29 July (RC). Others: Winnebago Co (ad.), 25 June (BG); Chi (Humboldt Park) (2), 7 June (AA); Streamwood, 8 June (AA); DGEFG (4 ad.), 2 June (CF); Chi (Powderhorn Marsh) (heard), 8 June (WM); Areola, (Douglas Co) 4 June (RC).

Double-crested Cormorant

Colonies: Thomson (Carroll Co) (aerial est. 80 nests), 25 May (VK); Andalusia (Rock Island Co) (aerial est. 50 nests), 25 May (VK); Riverdale (140+ nests), 22 May-17 June — however, all nests abandoned by 24 June (WM,JL); FRen (296 nests), 3 May (JM); Worley F (Tazewell Co) (9 nests), 2-3 July (RBj); Carl.F

(aerial est. 200 nests), 23 May (VK). MC: 627 (evening roost), Riverdale, 4 June (WM). Others: SCFP (14), 17 June (AA); St. Michael’s Reservoir (6), 8 June (AA); Stickney (27), 4 June (RH); Fouisville (Clay Co) (3), 5 June (RC); Mermet Fake C.A (2-3), June/July (EvW).

American Bittern

GFPSP (2), 15 July (AS); FChau, 29 July (RC, MD).

Least Bittern

Nests: Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co) (building), 18 June (RC). Others: Glacial Park (McHenry Co), 9 June (BM, JSn fide RBa); Wadsworth (Lake Co) (ad), 22 July (AS); GLPSP, 3 June (RC, MD).

Great Blue Heron

Colonies: Mississippi River: 17 (aerial est. 4330 nests, range: 40-800 nests/colony), 23-25 May (VK); Illinois River: 6 (aerial est. 2120 nests, range: 120-600 nests/colony), 25 May (VK); Rend L (aerial est. 630 nests, 2 locations), 23 May (VK); Little Black Slough (Johnson Co) (aerial est. 750 nests), 23 May (VK); LRen (219+ nests), 3 May (JM); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee

As a printing aide, the following abbreviations have been used throughout this report:

ad.	= adult	L	= Lake	S.F.
C.A.	= Conservation Area	pr.	= pair	m.ob.
subad.	= subadult	N.C.	= Nature Center	S.P.
F.P.	= Forest Preserve	*	= documented record	est.
imm.	= immature	N.P.	= Nature Preserve	W.
F.W.A.	= Fish & Wildlife Area	**	= specimen record	Co(s)
yg-	= young	N.W.R. resp.	= Nat’l Wildl Refuge = respectively	B.B.S

BWFP = Busse Woods F.P. (Cook Co)

Carl.L = Carlyle Lake (Clinton Co)

CBG = Chicago Botanic Garden (Glencoe, Cook Co) Chi = Chicago — excluding JP & LCal (Cook Co)

Clin.L = Clinton Lake (De Witt Co)

DGEFP = Deer Grove East F.P. (Cook Co)

DPCA = Des Plaines C.A. (Will Co)

ESTL = E. St. Louis (St Clair Co)

FGP = Forest Glen Preserve (Vermilion Co)

GLPSP = Goose Lake Prairie S.P. (Grundy Co)

HL = Horseshoe Lake (Madison Co)

IBSP = Illinois Beach S.P. (Lake Co)

JCPCS = Jasper County Prairie-Chicken Sanctuary (Jasper Co)

JP = Chicago’s Jackson Park (Cook Co)

KCP = Kennekuk Cove Park (Vermilion Co)

LCal = Lake Calumet (Cook Co)

Additional Cook County locations referenced in this report include Bartel Grasslands, Bemis W. F.P., Burham Prairie, Cherry Hill W. Des Plaines, Glenview, McClaughry Springs W., Northbrook, Orland Park, Palos Park W., Park Ridge, PoplarCreek F.P., Riverdale, St. Michael's Reservoir, Saganashkee Slough,

State Forest many observers State Park estimate(d)

Woods

County(ies)

Breeding Bird Survey

LChau = Lake Chautauqua N.W.R. (Mason Co) LMSF = Lowden-Miller S.F. (Ogle Co)

LRen = Lake Renwick (Will Co)

M. Arb = Morton Arboretum (Du Page Co)

MM = McKee Marsh (Du Page Co)

PCFP = Plum Creek F.P. (Cook Co)

RCA = Ryerson C.A. (Lake Co)

RCSP = Rock Cut S.P. (Winnebago Co)

RLCA = Rice Lake Conservation Area (Fulton Co) Sang.L = Sangchris Lake State Park (Sangamon Co) SCFP = Spring Creek F.P. (Cook Co)

SLCA = Spring Lake C.A. (Tazewell Co)

Spfld = Springfield (Sangamon Co)

SPFP = Springbrook Prairie F.P. (Du Page Co) SRSF = Sand Ridge S.F. (Mason Co)

SRSP = Starved Rock S.P. (La Salle Co)

UCCA = Union County C.A. (Union Co)

Schaumburg, Stickney, Swallow Cliff W., Thatcher W., Tinley Creek F.P. and Willow Springs.

A number in parentheses ( ) indicates the number of birds observed at a particular location or on a par¬ ticular date. No number signifies single birds.

28

Meadowlark

Co) (8), 28 May (fide AH); Clear L (Mason Co) (676 nests), 26 June (RBj); Worley L (Tazewell Co) (463 nests), 2-3 July (RBj).

Great Egret

Colonies: Mississippi River: 12 (aerial est. 940 nests, range: 20- 200 nests/colony), 23-25 May (VK); Illinois River: Clear Lake (Mason Co) ( 1 29 nests), 26 June (RBj); Worley Lake (Tazewell Co) (240 nests), 2-3 July (RBj); Lake Depue (Bureau Co) (aerial est. 50), 25 May (VK); LCal (Indian Ridge Marsh) (55 nests), 25 Apr. (WM); LRen (309 nests), 3 May (JM); ESTL (Alorton) (eggs & young), 6 June (VK, MS); Little Black Slough (Johnson Co) (aerial est. 75 nests), 23 May (VK). Others: Cherry Valley (Winnebago Co), 25 June (BG).

Snowy Egret

LCal (ad.), mid-May-23 July (AS, WM).

Little Blue Heron

Colonies: ESTL (Alorton) (eggs & young), 6 June (VK, MS).

Cattle Egret

Colonies: LRen (4 nests), 3 May (JM); ESTL (Alorton) (eggs & young), 6 June (VK, MS).

Green Heron

Nests: JP (3 = 1, 3 & 3 yg.), June/July (KC fide PC). Young: Ryder’s W. (McHenry Co) (3 imm.), 26 July (RBa); Spfld, 17 July (DB);Sang.L, 20 July. MC: 8, Spfld, 20 July (DB). Others: LCal — very low numbers this summer (WM); Cook County — ’’less common this year?” (AA).

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Colonies: LCal (three locations): a) Indian Ridge Marsh ( at least 227 nests), 6 May; b) Heron Pond (est. 50-100 nests), June; c) Big Marsh (est. 300-600 nests) June/July (WM); LRen (46 nests), 3 May (JM); Clear L (Mason Co) (3 nests), 26 June (RBj ); Worley L (Tazewell Co) (62 nests), 2-3 July (RBj); Decatur (1 nest = 4 yg.), July (MD); ESTL (Alorton) (hundreds of young, various ages), 6 June (VK, MS).

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Nests: JP (2 eggs), 28 June, but nest abandoned by 2 July (KC, PC). Young: LCal (fresh imm.), 16 July (WM); Spfld (ad. & imm.), 30 June and (imm.), 25 July (DB). Others: SRSP (2-4 ad.), 19 June-9 July and (1 subad.), 30 June-9 July (CMc, JMc).

Mute Swan

Broods: Chi (Egger’ s W.) (4 yg.), 5 June ( WM); Chi (Powderhom Marsh) ( 1 yg.), 8 June (WM); SLCA (6 yg.), 10 May (VK et al). Others: n.e. Kane Co (pr.), 28 June (EW); Glen Ellyn (DuPage Co) (pr.), 28 June (EW); Schaumburg (pr.), 28 June (EW); Palos, 17 June (JL); LCal (2 ads.), 10-11 June (JL, WM).

Canada Goose

Broods: RCA (5), June (SD); Palatine (5 = 27 yg.), 8 June (AA); Schaumburg (11 = 1-13 yg./brood), 8 June (AA); Park Ridge (8 = 2-1 1 yg./brood), 1 1 June (AA); Chi (McKinley Park) (6 = 46 yg.), 7 June (AA); Chi (downtown in the Chicago River) (6 yg.), 6 June (AA); JP (17 = 82 yg.), June/July (PC); LCal (13), 12 June (WM); Spfld (22 = 2-1 1 yg./brood), 22 Apr.- 19 June (DB). MC: 182 (including the 13 broods above), LCal, 13 June (WM); 150, Spfld, 29 June (DB); 67 (ads.), JP, June/July (PC).

Wood Duck

Broods: DGEFP (6 yg.), 25 July (CF); JP (5 = 37 yg.), June/July (PC); SPFP (5 yg.), 29 July (JSu); Spfld (22 =1-16 yg./brood), 5 June-11 July (DB);MiddleforkF.P. (Champaign Co) (14+), 18 June (RC).. MC: 46, Spfld, 11 July (DB).

Mallard

Nests: Banner Marsh (Peoria Co) (6 eggs), 7 July (KR). Broods: Schaumburg (3 = 2-12 yg./brood), 3 June (AA); Des Plaines (13 = 4-12 yg./brood), 2-9 June (AA); Chi (McKinley Park) (3 = 2- 12 yg./brood), 7 June (AA); JP (33), June/July (PC);; Spfld (24 = 2-14 yg./brood), 27 Apr. -18 July (DB); LCal (13 = 3-7 yg./ brood), 12 June (WM). MC: 410 (including yg.), JP, 4 Aug. (PC); 188 (including the 13 broods above), LCal, 12 June (WM); 140, Spfld, 21 June (DB).

Blue-winged Teal

Broods: LCal (6), 4 July (JL); SPFP (9 yg.), 29 July (JSu); Cisco (Piatt Co) (2), 24 June (MD); Havana (Mason Co) (3), 29 July (MD); West Frankfort (Franklin Co) (6 yg.), 19 May (LS).

Northern Shoveler

Broods: LCal (6 yg.), 23 July (JL).

Hooded Merganser

Broods: Spfld (6 = 5-10 yg./brood), 2 May-12 June (DB); Cisco (Piatt Co) (2 = 4 & 6 yg.), 24 June (MD); s. Pope County ( 3 yg.), 20 June (VK). MC: 12, Spfld, 30 June (DB).

Turkey Vulture

MC: 40 (roost site), LMSF, 17 June (PH fide EW); 17, DPCA, 15 July (AS); 16, Saganashkee Slough, 15 July (CT) and 15 there, 18 June (RH); 5, Sangamon County, 28 June (DB). Others: Marengo Ridge (McHenry Co) (3), 21 July (RBa); SCFP, 4 June (AA); two e. Will County F.P.s (1-2 ad.), 12 May- 3 July (JM), Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co) (3), 21 May-5 June (AH).

Osprey

Kishwaukee River (s. of Rockford) (pr.), throughout breeding season (AB).

Mississippi Kite

Jersey Co (Stump Lake) (ad.), 24 June (DB); Calhoun County (Red’s Landing) (ad.), 16 July (DB). MC: 26 (ad. & imm.), Olive Branch (Alexander Co), 29 July (DB).

Bald Eagle

Nests: Savanna Army Depot (Jo Daviess Co) (2 yg.), 25 May (VK); Spring Lake (Carroll Co) (2 yg.), 25 May (VK); 13 Apr. (ad. on nest), Carollton (PP); UCCA (yg.), April/June (KM, m.ob.); Carl.L (yg.), April/June (KM, m.ob.); 21 May (ad. carrying stick), Rockton (Winnebago Co) (BG) - pr. nearby along Pecatonica River insummer(AB). Others: RLCA(imm.), 29 July (RC, MD).

Northern Harrier

Nests: SPFP (3 nests) {1st pr.: 23 May (3 eggs — later de¬ stroyed), 2nd nest, 3 June (5 eggs — later destroyed ) } { 2nd pr. : 2 1 May (4 eggs with 4 yg. on 1 July & 2 fledged on 25 July)} (JSu, m.ob.); JCPCS (8 nests = 12 yg. fledged), May-July (JW); Franklin Co (3 nests = 2 fledglings each), 2-17 July (LS). Breeding: Ashmore (Coles Co) (female feeding yg.), 23 July (MD); w. Sangamon Co, 28 June-21 July and (imm. male), 27 July (DB). Others: Orland Park (male and imm.), 18 June (AS,WS); Winnebago Co (male), 31 July (BG ); Nachusa Grass¬ lands (Ogle/Lee Co) (pr.), 30 May-17 June, but (male) thru 13 July (AH); IBSP (female), 25 June & 22 July (AS); s.e. La Salle County (female), 25 July (CMc, JMc); Dailey (Champaign Co) (female & pr.), 18 June & 2 July, resp. (RC); Bath (Mason Co) (ad. male), 30 June (KR); Havana (Mason Co) (ad. male), 29 July (RC).

Vol. 5, No. 1

29

Cooper's Hawk

Nests: RCA. April/May (successful by June) ( SD r. JP (unsuc¬ cessful). 16 Apr. -26 May (PC ): M.Arb. 12 May ■ EW Others: LMSF. 9 June ( EW r. Marengo Ridge McHenry' Co). 1? & 21 July i RBai: Woodstock (2). 3 Aug. RBai: Glenview. 13 June (MM): E)es Plaines. 9 June (AA); PCFP. ipr. ). 16 June iEV> ): McClaughry Springs W. (female ), 30 June (CT): Willow Springs. 3 June (GWi); three e. Will County F.P.'s (5 birds i . 12 May-10 July iJMi: Spfld (ad. male carrying grackle'. 25 July (DB): s. Coles County. 7 & 29 July (BH): Buckner (Franklin Co ' • ad. . 1 July (LS).

Red-shouldered Hawk

Nests: RCA. May (successful' SDi:

SRSP. 22 Apr. (ads. present thru 9 July) (CMc. JMo. Others: Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co > > imm. . 16 July (RC).

Broad-winged Hawk

Nests: Palos Park W. (2 yg.). 25-26 June (CT. WS). Others: Des Plaines (2 ad.. 1 subad. ). 9 June ( AA): GCSP (3), 29 May (PP et al.); UCCA (ad.).

30 June (MD).

Swainson's Haw k Huntlev (McHenry Co ). 4 June AS ).

Red-tailed Hawk

Nests: SPFP (4 — yg. Still in two nests on 18 & 24 June). Apr./May (JSu):

Spfld. 3 Apr. (DB). Young:

Middlefork F.P. ( Champaign Co ) ( ad.

Sc 3 yg.). 18 June RC ): Mahomet (2 yg. ', 8 July RC ). MC: 6. Spfld. 10 June Sc 7 July (DB . “Krider's form": SCFP. 4 June (AA). Dark morph: PCFP. 26 June EW-photo )..

American Kestrel

Nests: FCal t4 yg. t. 28 June JL : Sangamon County yg. Fledged from 5 boxes). May June JHt'. 8 July (fledge date ■. SPFP (JSu). MC: 11. SRSF. 27 Julv (KR): 9.' Spfld. 10 July (DB).

Peregrine Falcon

Nests: Chi •. 4 ) ; i W acker Drive 1 4 eggs. 3 yg. fledged ). March July (MH). (Hyde Park) 4 eggs. 2 yg. fledged March July (MH), (Broadway) (4 eggs. 3 yg. fledged . April/July MH>. i River m2 eggs, failed '.April May MH Others: Chi Fakeview (2 ad.). April/May (MH>: Chi (Irving Park . May July MH : Decatur (male). 3 July (MD).

Gray Partridge

Grand Ridge (Fa Salle Co) (2 ad. i. 29 July (CMc. JMo. Ring-necked Pheasant

The 1995 statewide pheasant-call index declined only 2.3T from 1994 but is 4.5T above the previous five-year mean and 28T above the 1975-1994 mean: however, the 1995 brood- count is 2 IT- lower than 1994 but brood size increased by 16T ( from a 1994 average of 3. 8 to 4.4 chicks per brood )(LD'. MC: 69. Buda B B.S. Bureau/Stark Co '. 15 June YK: 64. Fairburg B.B.S. ' FivingstonFordCo . 12June YK': 63 Fairland B.B.S. 1 ChampaignPiattCo ).4 June\ RC .Others: South Barrington 2

males). 17 June (AA): PCFP (4). 16 June (EW).

Greater Prairie-chicken

"The Jasper Co population increased in 1995. w ith 41 males present on the booming grounds before addiuonal birds were translocated from Kansas as genetic and demographic enhance¬ ment of the Illinois flock continues. The count increased to 63

males after the release of Kansas birds' '

(AY).

Wild Turkey

MC: 12 (2 ad. 10 yg.). Castle Rock S.P.. 1 July (AS). Others: Fox Ridge S.P.. 5 June tRC); Mahomet (male'. 24 June (RC).

Northern Bobwhite

The 1995 statewide index incresaed 4.2T from 1994 but is only 2.4T above the previous five-year mean: however, it is 8. IT above the 1975- 1994 mean FD . MC:69.FloraB.B.S. ClayCo '.5 June’ RC ): 58. Jamestown B.B.S. i Clin ton Madison Co ). 6 June YK: 51. Olney B.B.S. .Richland Wayne Co '. 8 June YK ; 42. Stillwell B.B.S. (Hancock Co). 1 June (YK': 40. Terre Haute B.B.S. Henderson Coi. 14 June YK ; 36. Sangamon County. 13 June (DB . Others: Matthieson S.P. 12). 1 July (CMc. JMc).

King Rail

Young: Telegraph Road wetland Winnebago Co ad. Sc yg. >. 26 June BG ): GFPSP ( ad. w 5 yg. ). 15 July • AS ): JCPCS ( 3 prs. and broods ). June July ( AY ; West Frank¬ fort Franklin Co ) imm. '. 17 July LS '. Others: Pecatonica Winnebago Co ' ad. . 10 July BG : Clin.L '.calling . 6 June RC ; Bath MasonCo ' (calling). 30 June KR : HLi calling . 10 June i RC. MD).

Yirginia Rail

Nests: Clin.L ( 6 eggs ). 29 May RS ride MD . Broods: LCal 2 = 1-2 yg/brood ). 2-23 July DM fide WM : Bemis W. ( 1 yg. . mid-June fide SL ).

Sora

SCFP calling'. 3 June (AA): Bemis W. calling . mid-June SF : Bartel Grassland calling '. 10 June AS : Clin. L (calling). 6 June RC : FChau i calling >. 24 July KR & 29 July . RC.MD)

Common Moorhen

Broods: Wadsworth Fake Co 2 pr. 2 yg. . 25 June AS ): DGEFG 5 ad. - yg. . I- July ;CF : LCal (5= 1-“ yg. brood . 2- 23 July WM. AS >: .Areola (6 yg. . 1 July RC ); Havana (Mason Co ' ( 12 '. 29 July RC. MD ). Others: Chi ( Egger's W. i ( 2 ad. ). 5 June Jc 3 July WM ; Chi Powderhom Marsh) ad. .8 June & 2 July WM Comment: Indian Ridge Marsh was formerly the center of abundance for nesting moorhens at LCal: however, with the "clearing" of a blocked drainage culvert, and the "repair” of a broken water main early this year, the unnaturally high w ater levels w hich had created w etland conditions at this marsh have now disappeard WM .

Adult Red-tailed Hawk dark phase. Plum Creek Forest Presen e , Cook Co. 16 June 1995. Photo bx Eric Walters.

30

Meadowlark

American Coot

Broods: LCal (2 = 3-4 ygibrood), 2 July (WM) and (2 = 2-3 yg J brood), 9 July (AS); ; Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co) (ad. & yg.), 18 June (RC); Havana (Mason Co) (4), 29 July (MD).

Sandhill Crane

Nests: Thomson (Whiteside Co) (2 eggs), 14 Apr. (EA); Winnebago County (2 of 5 prs. raised yg.), April-July (BG); Alden Sedge Meadow (McHenry Co) (pr. w/ 1 yg.), 11 May (BS); WaucondaBog (Lake Co) (2 eggs). 28 Apr. (BS). Others: SCFP (2 flying). 4 June (AA).

Killdeer

Nests: Stickney (4eggs). 14June (RH). Young: Spfld. by 28 Apr. (DB). MC: 31, LCal, 12 June (WM).

Black-necked Stilt

Young: s.w. Jackson County (pr. with one yg.). 29 July ( DB); E. Cape Girardeau (Alexander Co) (4 ad.. 6 yg.). 10 Aug. (KM). Others: s.w. Jackson Co (2nd pr.), 29 July- 10 Aug. (DB. KM).

Spotted Sandpiper

Young: Stickney (3 prs. and fledg¬ lings), 14 June (RH): Middle Fork River (Vermilion Co) (2 yg.). 23 June (JS): Spfld (juvenal), 10 July (DB). MC: 20 including yg.,

Decatur. July (MD); 15. LCal. 12 June (WM).

Upland Sandpiper

IPSP (ad.), 25 June (AS); Bartel Grassland (pr.), 10 June (AS);

NachusaGrasslands (Ogle/Lee Co)

(3 ad.), 11 May-30 June and (yg.),

11 June (AH); Colusa (Hancock Co) (2 males), 1 June (VK); JCPCS (8 prs.), June/July (JW).

Common Snipe

IroquoisCountyC.A..24June(AS);

Havana ( Mason Co) ( 3 males win¬ nowing ). 17 June (MD).

American Woodcock

LCal. 14 July (EW); Camp Point (Adams Co) (2), 2 June (VK): e.

Will County F.P. (3), 9 June-7 July (JM).

Ring-billed Gull

Colonies: LCal (esL 4000-5000 nests). 29 June (WM ); Dresden Cooling Lake (w. Will Co) (250 + nests), late April ( JM ). Others: 850+ (22 imm.). Evanston. 2 July (EW). Comment: The number of nesting birds in the LCal colony is down: the suspected problem is continued nearby dredging activities and truck traffic disturbance (WM).

Herring Gull

Colonies: unknown number. LCal. 29 June (WM). Note: See note by WM for Ring-billed Gull.

Common Tern

Nesting: EBSP (Johns Mansville plant): 25 June(31 ad.. 12-14on nests) & 22 July (37 ad. w/ 22 yg.) — perhaps better nesting results in 1995 than in 1994 (AS).

Least Tern

Young: s.w. Jackson Co (ad. & yg.). 10 Aug. (KM); Miller City (Alexander Co — ads. & 2 yg.). 29 July (DB ). Others: s. Clinton County (ad.). 9 June (*MS).

Black Tern

Young: DGEFG (at least 1 yg.), 25 July-3 Aug. (CF) - 4 ad. present here 3 June-28 July.

Rock Dove

MC: 196 (including yg. of the year). JP. 27 Aug. (PC i.

Mourning Dove

The 1995 August dove index was up 20.891 over the same 1994 index and 2491 above the mean of the previous five years ( LD '. Nests: Chi. 4 Feb, successful) (EW et aL); Evanston. 20 Mar. (EW). MC: 88. Belknap B.B.S. (Johnson Co). 21 June (VK) 70. Flora B.B.S. (Clay Co). 5 June (RC); 68 Terre Haute B.B.S. (Henderson Co). 14 June (VK); 62 K 49. Spfld. 24 July &. 10

Black-billed Cuckoo

SCFP (2). 4-17 June ( AA): PCFP (2 males). 16 June ( EW t; Chi. 20 June (JL); e. Will County F.P. (pr.). 12 May (JM).

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Nests: Spfld (building). 17 July (DB ). MC: 22. Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/Aexander Co). 22 June (VK): 15. Orient i Franklin Co i. 22 July (LS): 9. Spfld. 2 June (DB). Others: SCFP i5 ). 3-4 June (AA); PCFP (3 males). 16June(EW): Henderson County (8). 14 June (VK).

BARN OWL

Breeding: Kilboume (Mason Co) (imm. ). June (MBj ):Rossville (Vermilion Co) (2 ad.), 21-25 June (DW. JS) and 3 yg. (20-21 Aug.) (DW); JCPCS (1 yg. fledged), June/July (JW). Other rumored nestings.

Great Horned Owl

Nests: Techny (Cook Co). 21 Jan. (EW, DJ. m.ob.): 6 June

June. resp. (DB ).

Killdeer on nest . Springfield. IL. 22 April 1994. Photo by Dennis Oehnike.

Vol. 5, No. 1

31

Female Acadian Flycatcher on nest, Will Co. 28 June 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

(fledge date), SPFP (JSu). Young: RCA (fledgling), 7 May (SD); LRen, 3 May (JM); SRSF (fledgling), 16 Mar. (KR).

Barred Owl

PCFP, 16 June (EW); Saganashkee Slough, 4 July (EW); two e. Will County F.P.s (calling), 12 & 21 May (JM); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co)(heard), 3 1 May-18 June (AH, m.ob.).

Long-eared Owl

N. Winnebago Co (heard), June (several dates) (AB).

Short-eared Owl

JCPCS: None present htis year in contrast to other recent years.

Common Nighthawk

MC:13, SRSF, 12 June(Rbj); 4, Spfld, 21 July (DB). Where are all the nighthawks?

Northern Saw-whet Owl SRSF (calling), 9-16 Mar. (KR).

Chuck-will’s-widow

SRSF (pr.), 20 June-12 July (RBj).

Whip-poor-will

Nachusa Grasslands (5 males), 12 May-18 July (AH); SRSF (161 males), 12 June (RBj).

Chimney Swift

MC: 200, Spfld, 20 June (DB); 102, JP, 3 Aug. (PC). Others: Evanston (25 prs.), mid-June (EW). Comment: Many low- flying birds were auto casualties at Spfld dam while searching for food (DB).

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

MC: 12+, West Frankfort (Franklin Co), 31 July (LS). Others:

32

Female Acadian Flycatcher at nest with two young. Will Co. 3 July 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

Marengo Ridge (McHenry Co) (female), 7 June (RBa) and (male), 13 & 21 July (RBa); RCA, 21 June (SD);SCFP (female), 4 June (AA); PCFP (2 — 1 a female), 3 June (AS); M.Arb (male), 23 June (EW); three e. Will County F.P.s (5 males), 21 May-28 June (JM).

Belted Kingfisher

Nests: Palos (building), 22 Mar. (EW).

Red-headed Woodpecker

Comment: This bird is decreasing as summer resident in Sangamon Co (DB and in the Chicago area (JL).

Red-bellied Woodpecker

MC: 36, Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/ Alexander Co), 22 June (VK); 33, Beaverdam B>B>S. (Pope Co), 22 June (VK); 18, Terre Haute B.B.S. (Henderson Co), 14 June (VK).

Downy Woodpecker

Nest: 9 June (nearly fledged yg.), LMSF (EW); JP (6 prs.), June/ July (PC).

Northern Flicker

MC: 12, Spfld, 29 June (DB); 12, Belknap B.B.S. (Johnson Co), 21 June (VK). Others: JP (only 3 prs.), June/July (PC).

Meadowlark

Pileated Woodpecker

MC: 3, Spfld, 2 June (DB). Others: SRSPG-2), 1-9 July (CMc, JMc); RCA, 15 June (TB).

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Nests: Marengo Ridge (McHenry Co), 20-27 July (RBa); e. Will Co F.P., 28 June (JM); Spfld (building), 2 June (DB); Buckner (Franklin Co), 1 July(LS). MC: 14, e. WillCoF.P.,4 June(JM); 12, Spfld, 2 June (DB); 11, PCFP, 16 June (EW). Others: Marengo Ridge (McHenry Co) (6 males), June/July (RBa); RCA (7 prs.), June (SD); SCFP (5 (males), 3-17 June (AA).

Acadian Flycatcher

Nests: e. Will County F.P. (2), 28 June & 3 July (JM); SRSP, 1 July (CMc, JMc). MC: 40 (males). Fox Ridge S.P., 17 June (RC); 4, Spfld, 9 June (DB). Others: Glenview (male), 13 June (MM); PCFP, 16 June (EW); Saganashkee Slough, 17 June (EW); Willow Springs (2), 3 June (GWi); Joliet (male), 1 1 June (AS); LMSF (2), 9 June (EW) and (male), 8 July (AS); s.e. Ford Co (2 males), 2 July (RC).

Alder Flycatcher

Orland Park F.P., 18 June (AS); Cherry Hill W., (2 males), 17- 28 June (CT); MM. 4 July (AS).

Willow Flycatcher

Nests: Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co), 30 June (AH);

Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co) (4 eggs), 18 June (RC). MC: 8 (males), SCFP, 3-17 June ( AA); 7, Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co), 18 June (RC); 7, Spfld, 14 June (DB); 7, LCal, 12 June (WM); 6 (males), Palos Heights, 13 June (AA); 6 (ad.), Chi (Powderhom Marsh), 8 June (WM). Others: St. Michael’s Reservoir (2 males), 8 June (AA); Stickney (4 prs.), 2 June-29 July (RH); Manito (2 males), 23 June (VK).

Least Flycatcher

Breeding: RCSP (ad. & yg.), 3 July (BG). Others: LMSF, 9 June (EW); Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co), 18 June (RC).

Great Crested Flycatcher

MC: 21, e. Will County F.P., 4 June (JM); 7(6 males) BWPF, 12 June (AA); 6, Spfld, 1 & 3 June (DB).

WESTERN KINGBIRD

Nest: ESTL, June (DK fide MD).

Eastern Kingbird

Nest: Evanston (3 yg. about to fledge), 28 July (EW). Others: JP (6 prs.), June/July (PC).

Purple Martin

MC: 32, Spfld, 27 July (DB).

Horned Lark

MC: 187, Monticello B.B.S. (Piatt/McLean Co), 9 June (RC); 35, Spfld, 13 June (DB).

Tree Swallow

Nests: Homer Lake (Champaign Co) (3 yg.), 25 June (RC); Sang.L (a few), June/July (DB); Mermet Lake C.A. (many), June/July (EvW). Young: Spfld, 14 July (DB). MC: 70, Spfld, 28 July(DB).

Rough-winged Swallow

Nests: Wilmette (4), 10-24 June (EW); JP (4), in June (PC); Mahomet (building), 8 July (RC).

Bank Swallow

Nests: Chiwaukee Prairie (n.e. Lake Co) (30 birds), 31 May (RBa); SCFP (10+ birds), 24 June (AA); JP (12 prs.), June (PC); LCal ( 150 birds), 2 July ( WM); Troy Grove (La Salle Co) ( 1 50 holes), 24 June (CMc, JMc); Utica (LaSalle Co) (300 holes), 24 June (CMc, JMc); Seneca (LaSalle Co) (150 holes), 24 June (CMc, JMc); Oregon (Ogle Co)(250 holes), 2 July (CMc, JMc); Dallas City (Henderson Co) (2 colonies, 600 holes), 1 June (VK); Sangamon Co (2 locations), June (DB).

Cliff Swallow

Nests: JP (2), 1 June-30 July (PC); Saganashkee Slough (2), 17 June (EW); Troy Grove (La Salle Co) (3), 6 June (CMc, JMc); Wedron (La Salle Co) (32), 26 June (CMc, JMc); Dallas City (Henderson Co) (40), 1 June (VK); Clin.L (100), 1 1 June (MD); Decatur (40), 16 July (MD). Breeding: Spfld, May/June (DB); Kankakee Co (4 ads., 6 yg.), 12 Aug. (CT). Others: Shoe Factory Road (Cook Co) (“swarming”), early June (JMe, DH); BWFP (4), 12 June (AA); JP, 10 Aug. (last observed) (PC); LCal, 11 June (WM); Buffalo Rock S.P. (La Salle Co) (9 ads.), 15 July (CMc, JMc).

Barred Owl fledgling, Salisbury, IL. 26 April 1995. Photo by Dennis Oehmke.

Vol. 5, No. 1

33

Barn Swallow

MC: 78, LCal, 12 June (WM); 42,

Spfld, 12 July (DB).

American Crow

Nests: Evanston (19), 6 Mar. -6 May (EW). MC: 142, Terre Haute B.B.S.

(Henderson Co), 14 June (VK). “A ubiquitous summer nester in the metro-Chicago area” (JL).

Black-capped Chickadee

MC: 17, Spfld, 22 July (DB).

Tufted Titmouse

MC: 24, Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/

AlexanderCo), 22 June(VK);21,Camp PointB.B.S. (Adams Co), 2 June (VK);

20, White County, 7 June (VK); 13,

Spfld, 11 July (DB); 10(8males),PCFP,

16 June (EW). Others: RCA (fledg¬ ling), late June (SD); four e. Will Co F.P. ’ s, May/J uly (seemingly as common as the chickadee — JM ).

White-breasted Nuthatch

Nest: 22 June (building), Lake Forest (PH).

RED-BREASTED NUT HATCH

Shirland (2 ad. w/ 2 yg.) 3-31 July (BG — first confirmed Winnebago County nesting record); LMSF (ad.), 18 June (CMc, JMc).

Juvenile Barn Swallow less than 2-weeks old near Wilmette’s Gillson Park, Cook Co. 3 July 1995. Photo by Eric Walters.

34

Brown Creeper

Nests: SRSP (gathering materials), 14 May and (ad. ) thru 30 June (CMc, JMc). Others: Shirland (n. Winnebago Co) 17 & 3 1 July (BG); Spfld (male — Gurgen’s Park), 9 June (DB).

Carolina Wren

MC: 24, Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/ Alexander Co), 22 June (VK); 13, Pop County, 20 June (VK); 8, Spfld, 13 June (DB); 4, three e. Will County F.P.s, 9 June- 11 July (JM). Others: LCal, 24 June (JL).

House Wren

Young: Spfld, 5 Aug. (DB). MC: 26 (males), PCFP, 16 June (EW); 20 (males), B WFP, 1 2 June ( AA); 20, Spfld, 13 June (DB).

Sedge Wren

DGEFG (6 males), June/July (CF); Burham Prairie (5 males), 18 June (WM); Chi (Powderhorn Marsh) (2 males), 2 June (WM); PCFP (7-8 males), 3 June-14 July (AS,EW); Orland Park (12 males), 18 June (AS); Bartel Grassland (4 males), 10 June (AS); Iroquois County C.A. (3 males), 24 June (AS); Nachusa Grass¬ lands (5 males), 17-25 July (AH); Dailey (Champaign Co) (2), 18 June (RC); Decatur (2), 9 July (RC); Spfld (2 males), 6 June & 12 July (DB); Banner Marsh (Peoria Co) (male), 20 July (KR, LA); JCPCS (abundant), June/July (JW).

Marsh Wren

Nest: 29 July (building), SPFP (JSu). MC: 15 (males), LCal, 12 June (WM); 13 (males), Chi (Egger’s W.), 5 June (WM); 10 (males), St. Michael’ s Reservoir, 8 June ( AA); 9 (males), Burham Prairie, 18 June (WM); 6 males, DGEFP, June/July (CF). Oth¬ ers: Havana (Mason Co), 29 July (RC).

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Nests: Moraine Hills S.P. (McHenry Co) (building), 3 June (RBa); RCA (pr. at nest), early June (SD); e. Will Co F.P., 12 May (JM). MC: 13 (7 males & 2 broods), Saganashkee Slough, 17 June (EW); 6, PCFP, 16 June (EW); 4, Spfld, 9 June (DB). Others: Poplar Creek F.P. (pr.), early June (JMe, DH); SCFP (2 prs.), 4-17 June (AA); four e. Will County F.P.s (surprisingly common), May/July (JM).

Eastern Bluebird

Nestbox: (Will Co) male feeding young. 28 June (JM); RCA (4-5 prs.) (SD).

Veery

RCA (5), 1 June-12 July with fledgling in late June (SD); Northbrook, 17 June (MM); Glenview (male), 13 June (MM); Bemis W. (male), 3 June (SL); Tinley Creek F.P. (2 males), 13 June (AA); Palos (male), 17 June ( JL); two e. Will County F.P.s (2 males), 4 & 30 June (JM); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co) (3 males), 5 June (AH); LMSF (7), 9 June (EW) and (“many”) on 2 July (CMc, JMc); M.Arb, 23 June (EW).

Wood Thrush

Nests: PCFP (3 yg.), 16 June (fledge date) (EW — photo); four e. Will County F.P. (5 nests, 11 yg. with only two cowbirds), 26 May-11 July (JM). Young: Ryder’s W. (McHenry Co) (ad. feeding yg.), 21 June (RBa). MC: 52 (ad.), four e. Will County F.P.s., 26 May-11 July (JM); 14, Belknap B.B.S. (Johnson Co),

Meadowlark

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at nest, Will Co. 12 May 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevic h.

21 June (VK). Others: RCA (6 prs.), June (SD); SCFP (2 males), 17-24 June (AA); Des Plaines (male), 9 June ( AA); B WFP (male), 1 2 June ( AA); Saganashkee Slough (5), 17 June (EW); Mahomet (Champaign Co) (4 males), 24 June-8 July (RC); Sangamon County (4 summer locations, no young observed), June/July (DB); LChau (5), 24 July (KR).

American Robin

MC: 109, FloraB.B.S. (ClayCo), 5 June(RC);97, JP, 3 Aug. (PC); 95, Stillwell B.B.S. (Hancock Co), 1 June (VK); 94, Pontiac, 13 June (VK).

Gray Catbird

MC: 24 (18 males), BWFP, 12 June (AA); 17 (males), SCFP, 3 June (AA); 14, PCFP, 16 June (EW); 13, Saganashkee Slough, 17June(EW): 13, Spfld, 17 July (DB). Others: JP (9 prs.), June/July (PC).

Northern Mockingbird

MC: 25, Belknap B.B.S. (Johnson Co), 21 June (VK); 23, Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/ Alexander Co),

22 June (VK); 19, Olney B>B>S> (Richland/ Wayne Co), 8 June (VK); 14, Spfld, 28 June (DB); 4, Decatur, 9 July (RC). Others: Nachusa Grass¬ land (pr.), 21 May-2 July (AH); Manito (Mason Co), 23 June (VK).

Cedar Waxwing

Nests: Saganashkee Slough (2 — be¬ ing built), 17 June (EW); SPFP, 17 June (JSu); MM (building), 23 June (EW); 23 June (building), Lake For¬ est (PH). Young: 30 July, JP (PC); 5 Aug., Spfld (DB). MC: 20, BWFP, 12 June (AA); 5, Spfld, 27 June (DB). Others: Saganashkee Slough (8 prs.), 17 June (EW); JP (5 prs.), June/July (PC).

Loggerhead Shrike

Nests: Franklin County (4 eggs), 6 June (LS); near Rockford (pr. with 2 fledged yg.), “summer” (AB). Oth¬ ers: Kendall County B.B.S. (pr.), 17 June (CMc, JMc); s. Warren Co (pr.),

I June (VK); Manito (Mason Co), 23 June (VK); Chesterville (DeWitt Co), 1-15 July (RC); Argenta (Macon Co),

II June (MD); Spfld (2), 14 June (DB); n.w. Sangamon County (2), 14 June (DB); s.w. Sangamon County, 27 June & 27 July (DB ); Jasper County (13 prs.), June/July (JW).

European Starling

MC: 1149, JP, 4 Aug. (PC).

Female Wood Thrush on nest. Will Co. 30 June 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

Wood Thrush young seconds after fledging from its nest at Plum Creek Forest Preserve, Cook Co. 16 June 1995. Photo by Eric Walters.

White-eyed Vireo

RCSP, (5 June & 3 July (BG); I & M Canal bike path (Cook Co) (2 males), early June (SL); PCFP (3 males), 16 June (EW); Willow Springs (male), 3 June (GWi); three e. Will County F.P.s (11 = 10 males, 1 female), 21 May-1

Male Eastern Bluebird at nest box. Will Co. 28 June 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

Vol. 5, No. 1

35

Fledgling Ovenbird, Will Co. 25 June 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

July ( JM); Oregon (Ogle Co) (ad.), 1 8 June (CMc, JMc); Ottawa (ad.), 16 June (CMc, JMc); Spfld (male), 21 June (DB).

Bell’s Vireo

Nests: Clin.L, 25 June (RC, MD); Farmer City (Ford Co) (2 eggs), 25 June (RC). MC: 5+, Franklin County, 9 June-10 July (LS); 3 (males), DPCA, 17 June & 2 July (AS); 3, Spf;d. 10 July (DB).. Others: SPFP (2), June (JSu); RCSP (pr.), June/July (BG); Nachusa Grasslands (3 prs.), 21 May-18 July (AH etal.); McCune Sand Prairie (Bureau Co) (ad.), 1 1 June (CMc, JMc); Vlin. L (pr.), 24 June (MD); RLCA (male), June/July (KR). Yellow-throated Vireo

Nest: Saganashkee Slough, 16-24 June (EW & JL). MC: 6 (males), two e. Will County F.P.s, 6 & 16 June (JM); 6 (males), Fox Ridge S.P, 17 June (RC). Others: RCA (3-4 singing males), June & July (SD); Willow Springs (male), 10 June (AA); Palos Heights (pr.), 13 June (AA); SCFP (2 males), 4-24 June (AA); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co) (2 males), 5 June-2 July (AH).

Warbling Vireo

Nests: Saganashkee Slough (building), 17 June (EW); Spfld (building), 4 May (DB). MC: 21 (males), LCal, 12 June (WM); 14, Chi (Wolf Lake), 5 June (WM); 11 (males), JP, June (PC); 10, Saganashkee Slough, 17 June (EW); 10, Spfld, 10 & 14 June (DB).

Red-eyed Vireo

Nests: Ryder’s W. (McHenry Co) (building), 12 July (RBa). Young: JP (begging yg.), 15 Aug. (PC). MC: 46, four e. Will County F.P.s, 4-24 June (JM); 15+ (males), Fox Ridge S.P., 17 June (RC); 9 (8 males), BWFP, 12 June (AA). Others: JP (4 males), late June (PC).

Blue-winged Warbler

Young: Marengo Ridge ( McHenry Co) (pr. with fledgling), 20 July (RBa); e. Will Co F.P. (ad. + yg.), 30 June-1 July (JM). MC: 13 (10 males), two e. Will County F.P.s, 21 May-10 July (JM); 7 (males), Cherry Hill W., 5-17 June (CT); 6 (males), Lake Forest, late June (PH fide EW); 6, Willow Springs, 3-4 June (GWi); 4, LMSF, 9 June (EW). Others: Marengo Ridge (2 males), 7 June (RBa); RCA (2), 4 June (SD); BWFP (3 males), 12 June (AA); Poplar Creek F.P. (male), early June (JMe, DH); SCFP (2 prs.), 4-24 June (AA); DGEFG (male), 2 June (CF);

PCFP (2 males), 3 June (AS); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co) (male), 13 June (AH); Oregon (Ogle Co) (2 ad.), 18 June (CMc, JMc); Banner Marsh (Peoria Co), 23 June (KR); New Salem S.P. (Menard Co) (2 males), 10 June (CO).

Northern Parula

MC: 12 (males). Fox Ridge S.P., 17 June (RC). Others: Urbana (at a prairie restoration site), 18 June (RC); Spfld (male), 2-26 June (DB); n.w. Sangamon County (male), 28 June (DB).

Yellow Warbler

Nests: JP (4 eggs), 5 June (PC); Sang.L (building), 5 June (DB). Young: Stickney (3 fledglings), 20 June (RH). MC: 45 (39 males), SCFP, 3-17 June (AA); 3 1 (males), LCal, 12 June (WM); 24, Saganashkee Slough, 17 June (EW).

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Nests: twoe. Will County F.P.s (2 nests), 28 June-11 Julv(JM). Others: LMSF (4 males), 8 July (AS); RCA (male), 1 June-12 July (SD); Poplar Creek F.P. (male), early June (JMe, DH); SCFP (2 males), 3 June (AA); four e. Will County F.P.s (9 = 6 males, 3 females), 30 May-1 1 July ( JM); LMSF (3 males), 9 June (EW) and (male), 18 June (CMc, JMc); PCFP, 16 June (EW); Leroy Oaks F.P. (Kane Co) (male), 28 June (EW).

Black-throated Green Warbler

LMSF (3 males), 9 June (EW ) and (male), 2 July (CMc, JMc) and 8 July (AS); RCA (3 males), 17 June (SD); Iroquois W.F.P. (Cook Co) (male), 9 June (AA).

Yellow-throated Vireo on nest at Saganashkee Slough , Cook Co. 17 June 1995. Photo by Eric Walters.

36

Meadowlark

Yellow-throated Warbler

Winnebago County (5 males in 4 locations), 12 June, and (3 of these males), thru 3 1 July (BG); n.w. Grundy County (2 ad.), 24 June (CMc, JMc); Wedron (La Salle Co) (ad.), 25 June (CMc, JMc); LMSF (6 males), 9 June (EW) and (ad.), 2 July (CMc, JMc); Fox Ridge S.P. (3 males), 17 June (RC); Spfld (2), 12 June and (male), 26 June (DB).

Prairie Warbler

Sangchris Lake S.P. (Chris¬ tian Co) (male), 3 June (CO).

Cerulean Warbler

Saganashkee Slough (male), 17 June (EW); Fox Ridge S.P. (6 males), 17 June (RC).

Black-and-white War¬ bler Grant Woods F.

P. (Lake Co), June/July (TB fide EW);PCFP (male), 16 June (EW); Saganashkee Slough, 17 June (EW).

American Redstart

MC: 16 (males), Saga¬ nashkee Slough, 17 June (EW). Others: LMSF (3 males), 8 July (AS); SCFP (pr.), 4 June ( AA); JP (pr.),

1-21 June and (male) thru 30 June (PC); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co)

(lst-year male), 13 June (AH); Spfld (female), 21-25 June (DB).

Prothonotary Warbler

Moraine Hills S.P. (McHenry Co) (2 males), 4 June (AS); Sangamon Co ( 1 -3 prs. at four locations), June/July (DB). Young: Spfld (2), 22 July (DB). MC: 5, Spfld, 9 June (DB).

Worm-eating Warbler

Fox Ridge S.P. (2 males), 5 June (RC); Spfld, 2 June (DB).

Ovenbird

Young: Thatcher W. (fledling), 27 June (SL). MC: 18 (males), LMSF, 9 June (EW) and (“many”), 2 July (CMc, JMc); 14 (10 males, 2 females, 2 yg.), four e. Will County F.P.’s, 21 May-7 July (JM). Others: Marengo Ridge (McHenry Co), 7 June-21 July (RBa); RCA (6), 1 June- 12 July (SD); Glenview (male), 8 June (MM); BWFP (3 males), 12 June (AA); Chippewa W. F.P. (male), 9 June (AA); SCFP (male), 24 June (AA); DGEFP (2 males), 2-28 June (CF); PCFP (2 males), 3 June (AS); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co) (3 males), 5-13 June (AH); FGP (male), 24 June (JS).

Louisiana Waterthrush

McClaughry Springs W. (2 males), 5 June (1 singing thru 30 June) (CT); Palos Park W. (male), 5 June (CT); e. Will County F.P. (2), 4 & 28 June (JM); Fox Ridge S.P. (5 = family including singing male), 5 June (RC).

Kentucky Warbler

LMSF (male), 8 July (AS): RCSP (pr.), June/July (BG); e. Will County F.P. (2 males), 21 May & 7 July (JM); Joliet (male), 1 1

Vol. 5, No. 1

June (AS); FGP (male), 24 June (JS); Fox Ridge S.P. (12 males), 17 June (RC); Spfld (1-2 prs.), 2-26 June (DB); n.w. Sangamon County (male), 6 June (DB).

Mourning Warbler

Palos (Papoose L) (male), 13 June (AA); e. Will County F.P. (male), 24 June (JM).

Common Yellowthroat

MC: 29, Beaverdam B.B.S. (Pope Co), 20 June (VK); 28 (25 males), SCFP, 3-17 June (AA); 17, Spfld, 14 June (DB). Comment: male “singing” Kentucky Warbler song, e. Will County F.P., 30 June (JM).

Hooded Warbler

RCSP (2 prs.), June/July (BG); Palos Park W. (2 males), thru 22 June (CT); Swallow Cliff W. (male), thru 28 June (CT); McClaughry Springs W. (male), thru 24 June (CT); Cherry Hill W. (male), 5-8 June (CT); Thatcher W. (male), 25 June (SL); Willow Springs (4), 3-4 June (GWi); two e. Will County F.P.s (4 males), 9 June-7 July (JM); FGP (male), 24

June (JS).

Canada Warbler

SCFP (male), 17 June (AA); LMSF (male), 2 July (CMc, JMc).

Yellow-breasted Chat

MC: 21, Beaverdam B.B.S. (Pope Co), 20 June (VK); 13, Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/AlexanderCo), 22 June (VK); 7, White County, 7 June (VK); 5 (males), DPCA, 2 July (AS); 4 (males), TCFP, 16 June (EW); 3 (males). Fox Ridge S.P., 17 June (RC); 3, Spfld, 28 June (DB). Others: RCSP (2), 5 June (BG); Willow Springs, 3 June (GWi); Iroquois County C .A. (2), 24 June (AS); Grundy Co B.B.S. (2 ad.), 17 June (CMc, Jmc); Sang L (male), 20 July (DB).

Summer Tanager

MC: 7, Belknap B.B.S. (Johnson Co), 21 June (VK). Others: Glenview (male), early June (MM); e. Will County F.P. (male), 30 June-7 July (JM); Utica (La Salle Co) (male), 11-15 June and (female), 29 June (CMc, JMc); Fox Ridge S.P. (female and 2 males), 5 June and 17 June, resp. (RC).

Scarlet Tanager

Nest: RCA (building), 1 June (SD). MC: 10+ (males). Fox Ridge S.P., 17 June (RC); 8, Spfld, 2 June (DB). Others: BWFP (2 males), 12 June (AA); SCFP (pr.), 24 June (AA); four e. Will Co F.P. (31 ad., 1 yg.), 4 June-1 1 July (JM).

Northern Cardinal

MC: 77, Beaverdam B.B.S. (Pope Co), 20 June (VK); 67, Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/ Alexander Co), 22 June (VK).

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

MC: 8, Spfld, 13 June (DB); 7 (5 males), SCFP, 3-4 June (AA); 5, PCFP, 16 June (EW).

Blue Grosbeak

MC: 8, Beaverdam B.B.S. (Pope Co), 20 June (VK); 5 (males), Franklin Co, 23 June-24 July (LS). Others: Savanna Army Depot (Jo Daviess Co) (pr.), 16-18 June (LO); Mahomet

37

Male Hooded Warbler, Will Co. 16 June 1995. Photo by Joe B. Milosevich.

(Champaign Co) (male), 24 June (RC); Clin.L (pr.), 24 June-3 1 July+ (MD, RC); SRSF (3 males), 17 June (MD); e. Sangamon County (male), 29 June (DB).

Indigo Bunting

Nest: Spfld (with cowbird eggs), 2 June (DB). MC: 54, Pulaski B.B.S. (Pulaski/ Alexander Co), 22 June (VK); 53, Beaverdam B.B.S. (Pope Co), 20 June (VK); 30, Spfld, 27 June (DB); 29, Olney B.B.S. (Richland/Wayne Co), 8 June (VK); 22, PCFP, 16 June (EW); 22 (19 males), BW FP, 12 June (AA); 14 (13 males), SCFP, 3 June (AA).

Dickcissel

Nest: Spfld (building), 13 June (DB). MC: 100+, Dailey (Champaign Co), 18 June-2 July (RC); 60, Flora B.B.S. (Clay Co), 5 June (RC); 45, Spfld, 10 June (DB); 25, Camp Point B.B.S. (Adams Co), 2 June (VK); 18, Burnt Prairie B.B.S. (White Co), 7 June (VK); 15, Terre Haute B.B.S. (Henderson Co), 14 June (VK); 14, Stillwell B.B.S. (Hancock Co), 1 June (VK); 7, Huntley (McHenry Co), 4 June (AS); 7 (males), PCFP, 16 June (EW); 6 (males), e. Will County F.P., 16 June (JM); 6, GLPSP, 15 July (AS). Others: Winnebago County, good num¬ bers after 5 June (BG); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co) (5 males), 13 June-25 July (AH); Mattieson S.P. (La Salle Co) (many males & females), June/July (CMc, JMc); JCPCS (abun¬ dant), June/July (JW); 7 July, JJP (PC).

Rufous-sided Towhee

Young: Spfld, 21 July (DB). MC: 19, Beaverdam B.B.S. (Pope Co), 20 June (VK); 11, Belknap B.B.S. (Johnson Co), 21 June (VK); 6 (males), LMSF, 9 June (EW ); 6 (males), PCFP, 16 June (EW); 6 (males), SCFP, 4-17 June (AA); 5, Spfld, 20 June (DB).

Chipping Sparrow

Young: Spfld, 7 July (DB). MC: 18, Monticello B>B>S. (Piatt/ McLean Co), 9 June (RC); 14, Spfld, 13 June (DB).

Field Sparrow

Nests: SPFP(4eggs), 14 June (JSu);e. Will County F.P. (3yg.), 16 June (JM). Young: Spfld, 26 July (DB). MC: 53 (46 males), SCFP, 3-17 June (AA); 30 (23 males), PCFP, 16 June (EW); 18, Spfld, 28 June (DB).

Vesper Sparrow

MC: 34, Fairland B.B.S. (Champaign/Piatt Co), 4 June (RC); 34, Monticello B.B.S. (Piatt/McLean Co), 9 June (RC); 7, w. Will County, 25 June (JM); 3, Spfld, 6 & 10 June (DB). Others: SCFP (male), 4 June (AA).

Lark Sparrow

Young: Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co), 4 June (AH). Oth¬ ers: Iroquois County C.A. (4), 24 June (AS); McCune Sand Prairie (Bureau Co) (ad.), 11 June (CMc, JMc); Terre Haute B.B.S. (Henderson Co) (3 males), 14 June (VK); s.e. Ford Co, 2 July (RC).

Savannah Sparrow

Nest: SPFP (5 eggs), 12 June (JSu). MC: 45, SPFP, in June (JSu); 36 (30 males), St. Michael’s Reservoir, 8 June (AA); 26 (20 males), SCFP, 3-24 June ( AA). Others: n.w. Sangamon County (1-2), 28 June-26 July (DB); JCPCS (5 prs.), June/July (JW).

Grasshopper Sparrow

Young: Decatur (4 fledglings), 9 July (RC). MC: 20, SPFP, in June (JSu); 20, Flora B.B.S. (Clay Co), 5 June (RC); 17 (males), Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co), 21 May-25 July (AH); 7, Spfld, 28 June (DB); 6 (males), DGEFG, June/July (CF). Others: Mattieson S.P. (La Salle Co) (many males), June/July (CMc,

38

JMc); JCPCS (abundant), June/July (JW).

Henslow’s Sparrow

PCFP (7 males), 3 June (AS) — only 3 present on 16 June-14 July (EW); Orland Park (10 males), 18 June (AS); Iroquois County C.A. (4 males), 24 June (AS); DPCA (male), 17 June & 2 July (AS); Mattiessen S.P. (La Salle Co — 1st County record) (2), 9 July & 19 Aug. (*CMc, JMc); RLCA (male), June/July (KR); JCPCS <33 males in two colonies), June/July (JW).

Song Sparrow

MC: 104, SPFP, in June (JSu); 75 (53 males), SCFP, 3-17 June (AA); 49, Burnt Prairie B.B.S. (White Co), 7 June (VK); 46 (44 males), LCal, 12 June (WM); 33, Spfld, 13 June (DB).

Swamp Sparrow

MC: 14, SPFP, in June (JSu); 6 (males), Chi (Powderhorn Marsh), 8 June (WM). Others: SCFP (2 males), 17 June (AA); St. Michael’s Reservoir (male), 8 June (AA); PCFP, 16 June (EW).

Bobolink

MC: 85, Bartel Grassland, 10 June (AS); 65, SPFP in June (JSu); 54 (42 males, 10 females), SCFP, 3-24 June (AA); 25, Orland Park F.P. , 18 June (AS); 15 (14 males), St. Michael’s Reservoir, 8 June ( AA); 7 (5 males, 2 females), Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/ Lee Co), 10 July (AH); 7 (males), Banner Marsh (Peoria Co), 7 July (KR).

Red-winged Blackbird

Nests: SPFP (4 eggs), 20 May (JSu); 24 June (2 yg.), SPFP (JSu). MC: 469, Flora B.B.S. (Clay Co), 5 June (RC); 180, Spfld, 10 June (DB); 134, LCal, 12 June (WM).

Eastern Meadowlark

Nest: SPFP (1 egg), 28 May (JSu). MC: 76, Flora B.B.S. (Clay Co), 5 June (RC); 35, SPFP, in June (JSu); 30, Spfld, 14 June (DB); 19 (16 males), SCFP, 3-24 June (AA). Others: JCPCS (abundant), June/July (JW).

Western Meadowlark

MC: 20, Buda B.B.S. (Bureau/Stark Co), 15 June (VK); 10, Stillwell B.B.S. (Hancock Co), 1 June (VK); 9, Pontiac B.B.S. (Livingston Co), 13 June (VK). Others: w. Will County (male), 25 June(JM); Mansfield (Piatt Co), 9 June(RC); Decatur (male), 4 Apr-31 July+ (MD, m.ob.); JCPCS (male — new for the site), June/July (JW).

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Young: DGEFG (5 yg.), 11-21 July (CF); Chi (Egger’s W.) (3 successful nests, 1-2 yg./nest), 5 June-3 July (WM). MC: 9 (5 males, 2 females, 2 imm.), Chi (Egger’s W.), 5 June (WM); 8 (5 males, 3 females), LCal, 12 June (WM). Others: DGEFG (6 = 4 males, 2 females), 5 June (CF); Havana (Mason Co)(2 prs.), June/July (KR, m.ob.).

Brewer’s Blackbird

IBSP (pr. carrying food), 25 June (AS).

Common Crackle

Nest: Evanston, 20 Mar. (EW). MC: 200, Spfld, 20 July (DB).

Brown-headed Cowbird

MC: 120, Spfld, 17 July (DB).

Orchard Oriole

Nest: Saganashkee Slough, 16 June (EW). Young: e. Sangamon County (subad. male feeding fledgling), 12 July (DB). MC: 3, Spfld, 14 June (DB). Others: Poplar Creek F.P. (male), early June (JMe, DH); Palos Heights (male), 13 June (AA); Willow

Meadowlark

Springs, 3 June (GWi); e. Will County F.P. (male), 4 June & 1 1 July (JM); Nachusa Grasslands (Ogle/Lee Co) (2 males), 13 June-18 July (AH).

Northern Oriole

Nest: 23 June, Lake Forest (PH). Young: Spfld, 20 July (DB). MC: 20 (15 males), Saganashkee Slough, 17 June (EW); 11 (8 males), BWFP, 12 June (AA); 11 (8 males), SCFP, 3-17 June (AA). Others: JP (8 prs.), June/July (PC).

House Finch

Nests: Evanston, 22 Feb. (EW).

American Goldfinch

Nest: SPFP (building), 13 June (JSu).

Breeding: JP (8 territories), mid-August and begging juvenals, 4 Sep. (PC). MC:

50, LCal, 12 June (WM); 25 (18 males),

PCFP, 16 June (EW); 18, Spfld, 24 July (DB).

House Sparrow

MC: 497, JP, 20 Aug. (PC).

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Nests: Spfld (building), 28 June (DB).

MC: 11, Spfld, 23 June (DB); 6, RLCA,

29 July (RC). Others: Manito (n. Mason Co), 23 June (VK).

EXOTICS _

Monk Parakeet

JP (10-12 nesting prs. = about 25% of the greater south-side Chicago population),

June/July and evidence of successful breeding when 61 were present (includ¬ ing a single flock of 32), 27 Aug. (PC);

Berwyn (3 prs., 2 nests), 2 June (RH);

Carol Stream (Du Page Co) (4 prs.), June/

July (fide RH); Zion, June/July (fide EW).

NON-BREEDING SUMMER OCCURRENCES _ _

Common Loon

Spfld, 29 June (DB).

Pied-billed Grebe

Spfld, 5 June (DB).

Double-crested Cormorant

Spfld, (1-2), 12 June-25 July (DB).

Black-crowned Night-Heron

JP (14), June (KC fide PC).

TUNDRA SWAN

Dickson Mounds (Fulton Co) (ad.), 28-30 June (KR).

Green-winged Teal

Glacial Park (McHenry Co) (male), 9 June (BM, JSn fide RBa); DGEFG (pr.), 15 May-19 June (CF); LCal (2 males), 2 July (WM, CA); Chi (Powderhorn Marsh) (male), 8 June (WM); Areola (Douglas Co) (male), 1 July (RC); Decatur (2 pr.), June/ July (MD).

American Black Duck

Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co) (ad.), 2 July (RC).

Northern Pintail

Spfld (female), June/July (DB).

Vol. 5, No. 1

Blue-winged Teal

LCal (13 ads.), 12 June (WM); Areola (Douglas Co) (male), 4 June (RC); Spfld (2 pr.), 2-20 June (DB). MC: 6, Spfld, 17 & 27 July (DB).

Northern Shoveler

LCal (male), 2-4 July (JL); GLPSP, 3 June (RC, m.ob.)

Gadwall

LCal (5 = 4 males, 1 female), 12 June (WM); LCal (female), 2 July (WM).

Redhead

Stickney (male), 2 June-7 July (RH).

Ring-necked Duck

DGEFG (male), 15 May-28 July (CF); Stickney (female), 2 June-7 July (RH); Sang.L (male), thru 27 June (DB).

Lesser Scaup

RCSP (male), thru 25 June (BG); Stickney (female), 2 June (RH); LCal (male), 6 May-22 July (JL); Spfld (male), June/July (DB).

Hooded Merganser

Middlefork F.P. (Champaign Co) (fe¬ male), 2 July (RC).

Common Merganser Spfld (male), thru 1 1 July (DB).

Ruddy Duck

LCal (2), 17 June (JL); Spfld (female), thru 21 July (DB).

Broad-winged Hawk

Spfld (subad.), 6 & 21 June (DB).

Sora

LCal, 17 June (JL).

American Coot

Sangamon County ( 1 -2 at 2 locations), June/July (DB).

Sandhill Crane

Carlyle, 20 June (*MS).

Ring-billed Gull

JP (1290), 8 June (PC); JP (247 juvenals), 16 July (PC).

Herring Gull

JP (41), 8 June (PC).

Glaucous Gull

Chi (Montrose) (ad.), 10 June (JL).

Caspian Tern

Wilmette (2), 16 June (EW); JP (3), June/July (PC); LCal (2), June/July (JL); Saganashkee Slough, 17 June (EW).

Common Tern

JP (ad.), 26 June (PC); LChau (ad.), 28 June (KR).

Black-billed Cuckoo

E. Sangamon County, 29 June (DB).

Belted Kingfisher

JP, 28 July (PC).

Western Kingbird

Manito ( Mason Co), 16June(JH)& 12 July (KR); Spfld. 19-29 June (DB).

Western Kingbird, Springfield, IL. 19 June 1995. Photo by Dennis Oehmke.

39

SCISSOR-TAtLED FLYCATCHER

Glacial Park (McHenry Co), 6 June (DMi — photo).

Solitary Vireo

Shiriand (n. Winnebago Co) (male singing), 17-24 July (BG).

Black-throated Green Warbler

Cherry Valiev (Winnebago Co) (male), 10 June (BG).

Canada Warbler

Shiriand (n. Winnebago Co) (male), 26 June (BG).

White-throated Sparrow

Chi (male), 16-22 June (AA).

White-crowned Sparrow

Mendota (La Salle Co) (at feeder), 16 June (JHa).

EXOTICS _ _ -

Trumpeter Swan

CBG (pr. released this past Apr.) (fide EW); Snicarte (Mason Co) (ad), 17 June (MD).

Ringed (Collared) Turtle-Dove

Chi (pr.), 4 Apr. -2 Aug. (RH); Homer (Champaign Co), 9 June (JS).

— Kleen, Natural Heritage Division Department of Natural Resources 524 S. 2nd St., Springfield, IL 62701-1787

Nature’s Corner • 847-369-3636

WILD BIRD PRODUCTS

Almost 100 kinds of BIRD FEEDERS • More than 40 kinds of WILDLIFE FOOD Birdbaths, heaters, poles, houses, books, fieldguides, binos, scopes, packs and more

NATURE’S GIFTS

Art and limited edition prints, porcelains, musicals, mugs, tee and sweat shirts, stone critters, gardening and nature books, toys, puppets, puzzles, minerals, wind chimes, jewelry, cards, calendars, audio and video tapes.

WATER GARDENING SUPPLIES

Pond kits, liners, pumps. Filters, fountains, water test kits and pond care products.

10-8 WEEKDAYS, 10-6 SAT., 1-5 SUN. • 566 S. Rt. 59 NAPERVILLE, IL ACROSS FROM THE FOX VALLEY MALL NEAR VENTURE

Send seasonal reports to:

Fall Migration - (1 August - 30 November)

Due 7 December • Robert Chapel,

306 1/2 West California , Urbana, IL 61801

Winter Season - (1 December - 28 February)

Due 7 March • Robert Danley,

2201 Clay Street, Murphysboro, IL 62966

Spring Migration - (1 March - 31 May) Due 7 June • Myma Deaton,

4540 E. Spruce St., Decatur, EL 62526

Breeding Season - (1 June - 31 July)

Due 7 August • Vernon Kleen Illinois Department of Conservation Natural Heritage Division 524 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62701

Illinois Ornithological Society gratefully acknowledges the following supporters and contributors for their generous donations.

Supporters $100 - $500

Anonymous Mrs. Dolores Banzhaf Dean Bolton and Helen Taylor/

Wild Birds Unlimited The Donnelley Foundation Parker Hall • Mary Ann Harrison David B. Johnson R. David Johnson • Kay Morgan Roger and Dana Rzpeka Paul F. Sullivan and Marsha Dittmer Lynne N. Tamura • David Willard

Contributors $50 - $99

Mr. and Mrs. Rex J. Bates Richard J. Blewett • Denis M. Bohm David Brenner • Florence Burek Sheila Connolly • Jill Cumming Dinah Dyer and Herb Wisch Evanston North Shore Bird Club Betsy Fikejs • Dr. and Mrs. H. Friederici Philip Haebler/The Upstart Crow Hey & Associates • Craig Jobson R. Laegeler • Joe Lill & Family J. DeNavarre and Maijorie Macomb, Jr.

Alex and Marilyn Meloy Margo T. Merrick • P. Clifford Miller Steven Mlodinow

North Central Illinois Ornithological Society Joe and Marlene Nowak Dr. Jan R. Radke • JoAnne Rittenberg Karen Rodemaker Mr. and Mrs. Robert Runser Harriet W. Rylaarsdam Mark Seiffert • Joe Suchecki John and Caryl Sweeney • Michael J. Sweeney

40

Meadowlark

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

y We welcome manuscripts, photographs, and illustrations for possible publication in Meadowlark.

y Article topics include unusual bird sightings and nesting accounts, technical papers on bird research, and other articles such as bird finding guides and field identification tips. Joy of birding articles will be considered.

y Manuscripts should be typewritten or com¬ puter-generated, double spaced and on only one side of numbered pages. Please send two copies of your manuscript and make sure you keep another for yourself.

y If you are able, submit a computer disc in ascii file or for Word Perfect 5.1.

y Include name, address, and day and night time phone numbers. Other pertinent information about your qualifications and background is also helpful.

y We prefer clear black and white or color print photographs.

Color slides may also be accept¬ able.

y We reserve the right to re¬ view and edit articles according to style, grammar, accuracy, and read¬ ability.

El Send articles, photographs, and inquiries to:

Sheryl De Vore, Chief Editor 967 Braeburn Mundelein, IL 60060.

E Pen and ink drawings are also accepted. Contact:

Denis Kania 1536 Preston Road Naperville, IL 60563.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

ISI El E3 El ISI

Members of the Illinois Ornithological Society receive Meadowlark, the quarterly journal, plus Wings Over The Prairie, the IOS newsletter. Members are also invited to special field trips, the annual meeting, and other IOS functions.

To join or send a gift subscrip¬ tion, send your name or that of the gift recipient, address, and telephone number along with fee to:

IOS

P.O. Box 1971 Evanston, IL 60204-1971.

Back issues of Volume 1, 2, 3 and 4 are still available for $5 each.

Fees:

Individual $20 Family $30 Full-time student $10 Contributor $50 - $99 Supporter $100 - $499 Sponsor $500

Nothing The Best!

CROW

Featuring the Very Best in Birding Optics!

ZEISS

KOWA, BAUSCH &. LOMB NIKON, CELESTRON BUSHNELL, SWIFT, OPTOLYTH

2112 Central St. • Evanston IL 708-332-2769(CROW) • 800-404-5959

BINOCULARS REPAIRED		jgpnnghouse begins where the
CUSTOM SALES		travel brochures leave off.
The right binocular at the right price		Read about the real Southern Illinois:
Herb Koehler - Owner		History, folklore, humor, recipes, and letters-
Binocular Technician 45 years		always plenty of letters.
Estimates: No Cost or Obligation		One-year subscription (6 issues) $15.00
XJL^ TELE-OPTICS
5514 Lawrence Avenue		$5>prtngfjottse
Chicago, IL 60630		P.O. Box 61 • Herod, IL 62947
(312) 283-7757		Tei. No. (618) 252-3341

Meadowlark

AM. MUS. NAT. HIST. LIBRARY Received on: 06-12-96

AMNH LIBRARY

00232895

Precarious Pose

This Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, appearing a bit nervous before testing the waters, was photographed on 13 June 1995 at Jackson Park Wooded Isle in Chicago, Cook Co. by Thomas Jackman. The bird remained until 2 July 1995 and attempted to nest on one of the islands in the East Lagoon with a small colony of Black-crowned Night-Herons. The Yellow-crowned Night-Herons failed to produce young.