Bird names

• by abloss

  Is it useful for your research to post the names of birds that I find? I know other people like to know what a bird is, especially if it is uncommon, but I post a lot of common birds like robins, starlings, etc. and sometimes I wonder if it is too much. Thanks.

  Posted December 9, 2015 3:30 PM

• by ForestPreserve moderator

  Don't know about the research aspects, but I appreciate what you've been doing. Many birds are hard to id, and we have a number of people who aren't familiar with Midwestern North American birds.

  In this example, the low brightness and contrast makes it difficult to see the bird. Even if you fix the image in a photo editor, the bird is hard to id. So your id can be a big help to others in similar tough cases.

  A lot of cases are easier than this one, but of course they may be difficult for other users. I'd much rather see each robin you find than every squirrel.

  Posted December 9, 2015 6:46 PM

• by abloss

  Thanks. Then I will persevere.

  Posted December 9, 2015 7:12 PM

• by mason_UWI scientist

  The way we have camera traps set up it's not really the best method to collect bird data. Condor watch, for example, has a completely different set up to capture images of some really big birds. While both projects have cameras pointed at the ground,we target mammals and no doubt miss a lot of bird species present in the area. So, for research, we would need to use some different methods (which we do!) However, as an avid birder I love coming to the talk section and seeing what birds do incidentally pop up in front of the cameras, and I can assume that many people who are not familiar with our Midwestern bird community gain a lot from your contributions. Some of our best photos are of birds too!

  So I say keep it up!

  mason

  Posted December 9, 2015 9:48 PM

• by abloss

  For cameras not aimed to capture birds, I am impressed with what shows up. Since starting, a month or so ago, I have identified 18 species of bird, and have seen 2 others that someone else got to first. This is fun!

  Posted December 10, 2015 2:59 AM

• by mason_UWI scientist

  Yeah, we get some pretty cool bird diversity on the camera traps, particularly when a site floods.

  Posted December 10, 2015 4:46 PM

• by DZM admin in response to abloss's comment.

  Super glad to have a bird expert around! 😃

  Posted December 10, 2015 7:51 PM

• by WillowSkye

  Hi A, 18 species! Wow, I think I missed some, here's my list so far:

  1. Canadian Geese
  2. Common Grackle
  3. American Robin
  4. European Starling
  5. Spotted Sandpiper
  6. Hermit Thrush
  7. Mallard
  8. Red-winged Blackbird
  9. Crow
  10. Great horned owl
  11. House Sparrow
  12. Northern Flicker

  What are the other species that I've missed? How many bird species are there in Chicago?

  Thanks 😃

  Posted December 10, 2015 9:35 PM

• by WillowSkye

  Oops - forgot no 13. Barred Owl And forgetting no 14. Cardinalis Cardinalis And now that I think of it, there was that hawk?? picture some time ago of an attack-attempt.

  Mason, what was that species again?

  Still missing some species though ...

  Posted December 10, 2015 9:37 PM

• by mason_UWI scientist

  On our camera traps we've found 3 attack events.

  1. coopers hawk trying to get a squirrel.
  2. Pair of red-tailed hawks trying to get a squirrel.
  3. great horned owl snagging something.

  So if it was one bird (and was a hawk), it was a coopers, if it was 2 then it was the RTH.

  Another one that is a little less common, but I think has been seen on CWW is the American Woodcock!

  Mason

  Posted December 10, 2015 10:16 PM

• by mason_UWI scientist

  This spring we found a woodcock while preparing end of year reports

  

  and don't forget the black-crowned night heron

  

  I feel like I'm giving spoilers!

  Posted December 10, 2015 10:19 PM

• by abloss

  I've been looking for those two!

  Posted December 11, 2015 2:55 AM

• by abloss in response to DZM's comment.

  Dear DZM - Thanks for the compliment. There are many better birders than I in Chicagoland - I just happened to get sucked into Chicago Wildlife Watch. Cheers!

  Posted December 11, 2015 2:54 PM

• by abloss in response to WillowSkye's comment.

  Hi Willow - I don't know of an official list of Chicago birds. The State of Illinois has 444 species on its list, but many of these are once-in-a-lifetime rarities, and a few are extinct. Perhaps more to the point of your question, Montrose Point has an amazing 339 species. Montrose is where the spotted sandpiper images come from. It is a small city park, abut five miles from downtown Chicago, and it is well-known to birders in the US as a migrant trap. Hope this answers your question.

  Posted December 11, 2015 3:06 PM

• by WillowSkye in response to mason_UWI's comment.

  Thanks M, it was the Coopers hawk I was thinking of 😃 Thanks also for the pictures. Spoilers of Birds are welcomed, it's the Spoilers on Star Wars that I'm worried about ....

  Posted December 11, 2015 8:49 PM

• by WillowSkye in response to abloss's comment.

  Thanks A, Cool 😃 339 is a lot! I will Google Montrose. I remembered another bird today that you ID'ed some time ago - the Blue Jay with those beautiful colours of blue, white and black patterns on the wings and tail 😃 I hope to see it again in the pics

  Posted December 11, 2015 9:00 PM

• by abloss

  Willow - Here is a website about Montrose created by one of Chicago's top birders:

  http://theorniphile.info/birding-montrose-point/index.html

  Posted December 11, 2015 9:55 PM

• by WillowSkye in response to abloss's comment.

  Thanks A 😃

  Posted December 11, 2015 10:13 PM