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Have you noticed friends or coworkers looking a
little sleep-deprived lately? Perhaps these same people complain of a sore
neck, and look past you into the trees while you’re talking. You may be
encountering birders caught up in the excitement of spring migration.Sure, a variety of birds have been migrating through central Illinois since February. During the late winter and early spring something like 240 species of birds belonging to 39 families pass this way.
But for most birders, the highlight of spring is songbird migration, and that becomes most intense over the next few of weeks.
[Photos by author: hooded warbler, black and white warbler; summer tanager.]
There are great numbers of birds and a great variety of species represented in this wave, hundreds of thousands of individuals belonging to more than 120 species. The most dazzling among them are members of a family of birds known as warblers, which are incredibly colorful little birds that average only about a third of an ounce in weight. Although they are small, warblers migrate long distances, from wintering ranges in Mexico, Central, and South America to breeding areas in the U.S. and Canada.
As they move north, warblers feed on insects, especially the caterpillars, bees
and wasps that populate the crowns of trees as they flower and leaf out. (This
habit of the birds accounts for a condition that afflicts birders known as
“warbler neck.” That’s the pain you experience when you spend too much time
looking up.)
Although 20 species of warblers breed in Illinois,
only 7 of those nest in Champaign County. Most individuals of the 37 warbler
species that occur in the state during spring are just passing through on their
way further north.
Ironically, the highly fragmented nature of the
central Illinois landscape creates great opportunities for warbler watching.
Migrating birds that need trees to feed in when they stop are concentrated in
urban areas and the isolated woodlands that remain here.
It seems almost foolish to try to describe in words the vivid beauty that prompts birders to get out before sunrise day after day. Some warblers are all about color. The blackburnian warbler’s throat and head, for instance, exhibit such a bright combination of orange and yellow that it looks to be on fire. And the cerulean warbler—well, if you’ve only experienced “cerulean” as the color of a crayon, you’ve got to see this bird. Other warblers are about patterns. The aptly named black and white warbler, for example, makes up for its lack of color in the same way a zebra does, by sporting stripes so bold they appear to be painted.
If you’re new to birding, or just interested in getting out with people who
share your enthusiasm, you might want to check out the Sunday morning bird walks hosted by the
Champaign County Audubon Society at Busey Woods and Crystal Lake Park in
Urbana. Walks start out from the parking lot of the Anita Purves Nature center
at 7:30 a.m. and last until about 9:00--although certain people hang out much
later when the birding is good.
It seems almost foolish to try to describe in words the vivid beauty that prompts birders to get out before sunrise day after day. Some warblers are all about color. The blackburnian warbler’s throat and head, for instance, exhibit such a bright combination of orange and yellow that it looks to be on fire. And the cerulean warbler—well, if you’ve only experienced “cerulean” as the color of a crayon, you’ve got to see this bird. Other warblers are about patterns. The aptly named black and white warbler, for example, makes up for its lack of color in the same way a zebra does, by sporting stripes so bold they appear to be painted.
You may also want to add to your calendar the 7th
Annual Bird Migration Festival, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday,
May 16th. This family friendly event will be held at the
Interpretive Center at the Homer Lake Forest Preserve and include opportunities
to see both wild and captive birds up close. More information about the
Migration Festival is available at the website of the Champaign County ForestPreserve District.
