Winter Birds of Illinois (December, January, February) Winter for bird watchers officially starts in Illinois during the Christmas Bird Count season. Throughout the state, beginning, intermediate, and advanced birders join forces to count every bird they see for one day. The counts occur beginning in mid-December and ending mid-January and some nature lovers enjoy partaking …
Fall Birds of Illinois (September, October, November) Fall migration is a much less hurried affair for birds compared with spring, when various species are rushing to get to their breeding grounds and find the best places to nest. You can enjoy migrating songbirds afield or even in your own backyard, especially if you provide water, …
Summer Birds of Illinois (June, July, August) While the excitement of spring migration has passed, summer holds a more subtle form of wonder. The birds stay in one place now, raising a family and giving you a chance to hear them sing and observe them feed their young. By June the familiar backyard birds such …
Spring Birds of Illinois (March, April, May) Spring comes to southern Illinois nearly a full month ahead of northern Illinois—while Louisiana waterthrushes are returning to breed in the southern Illinois swamplands in late March, for example, a snowy owl may still be lingering along the northern Lake Michigan shoreline in Waukegan before it returns to …
