Ancient Birds

A small flock of Sandhill cranes appear to fly with little effort as they head to some corn stubble in a field just to the east where more cranes have gathered.

December 5, 2022 – My annual trip to Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area in Indiana to experience the Sandhill cranes in large numbers, a late autumn migration spectacle, did not disappoint. Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area is a staging area for the southbound cranes. And while thousands will have moved on to the southern United States by the end of December, there will still be hundreds overwintering in the area.
The DNR’s estimated count of Sandhill cranes posted on the park’s website was around 31,000 at the end of November. While many cranes could be viewed and photographed at the Sandhill Crane observation area inside the park from the observation platform, cranes could also be found socializing and resting and feeding in large flocks in the agricultural fields and along large ditches in the surrounding countryside.

The loud bugle calls described by some as a “kar-r-r-r-o-o-o” made by the cranes fill the air echoing a feeling of nostalgia for days long gone as small flocks cast shadows as they fly low over the large numbers of cranes resting in grassy waterways and the harvested fields. Based on the fossil record, the spring and fall migrations of the Sandhill crane have been occurring in one form or another for millions of years across the North American continent. Observing the large flocks of these great gray birds flying and vocalizing across an autumn sky is like looking through a window to another time in the distant past; it becomes easy to isolate that feeling, if only for a moment. Spending just a day with the great flocks of Sandhill cranes, it becomes easy to understand how and why the crane is part of the indigenous people’s culture to this day.

Long before the Europeans stepped foot on this continent, the Sandhill crane was part of the stories and legends of the indigenous. The Eastern Sandhill cranes are considered an important totem to the native people of the Great Lakes region. The crane represents leadership, independence, and good fortune. Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area is about 53 miles east of Kankakee as the crane flies and can be a wonderful day trip and learning experience for families. Don’t forget to bring binoculars and a camera, pack a lunch and make a day of it, stay safe and enjoy. For more information about the cranes, visit the Indiana DNR’s website. https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/properties/jasper-pulaski-fwa/sandhill-cranes/

Jumping into the air with its five-foot wings spread wide, the crane seems to be trying to entice the other crane to join in a dance.

The American White Pelican

Well lighted by the morning sun a large American white pelican with a wingspan of nine feet glides past giving us a nice look at this beautiful bird.

April 11, 2022 – As spring continues to battle a winter that seems unwilling to step aside, the unstoppable woodland wildflowers have brought new color to the drab understory along the streams and trails of Illinois. This year in southern Illinois, Western chorus frogs sang their love songs under starry skies with an incredibly piercing volume lasting well into the chilly late February night. Waves of many thousands of noisy Snow geese have moved out of the southern part of the state, working their way towards their breeding grounds on the vast lands of the Arctic tundra. Every year American white pelicans that are becoming a more common sight in Illinois can be seen during the winter on the large lakes and river bottoms of Southern Illinois. American white pelican population has grown along with its nesting habitat from the northern Great Plains of the United States and Canada and south and east into Northern Wisconsin. The male and female pelican develop a flat plate that sticks up like a horn on their upper bill during the breeding season, which falls off after the season is over. The American white pelican has a 9-foot wingspan that easily carries the large body of those remarkable birds, having an average weight of between 11 and 30 pounds. Large flocks of these bright white birds with black flight feathers, circling in unison in a graceful formation, high over the lakes and wetlands illuminated by the sun, is a sight to behold, truly breathtaking. As spring arrives and winter musters its last bit of icy effort during its final curtain calls, those large, strange, delightful-looking pelicans will show up in small numbers here in Northeastern Illinois. Reports of sightings have already been recorded this year in Northern Illinois; I witnessed four low flying pelicans from my backyard in Kankakee within the last few weeks. For a brief time before moving further north and west to their summer nesting areas, the American white pelican will rest, feed and take flight on and over the rivers and lakes of Northern Illinois.

The strange flat plate on top of the pelican’s bill indicates an adult bird during the breeding season.

The Butcher Watchman

A Northern shrike watching for prey quickly wings to another small tree as it continues its hunt.

January 10, 2022 – The bleakness of a winters afternoon and the silhouette of a small songbird off in the distance perched at the end of a spindly sapling can send chills having nothing to do with the cold weather down the back of even the strongest and most rational when the sweet songs barely heard are that of the butcherbird. An uncommon winter visitor, the Northern Shrike is about the size of the American Robin, with similar colors to that of the Northern mockingbird. Northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana are on the southern edge of the Shrikes winter range, where a lucky few get to see this remarkable bird each year. The shrike prefers open wetlands and shrubby grassland areas with tall saplings and snags to perch on to watch for prey. The little songbird is much different than the other songbirds that live or spend the cold winter months here in northeastern Illinois. The shrike has an appetite for small rodents and other birds; it is a swift, effective hunter with a sharply hooked bill and a tomial tooth, a tooth-like feature on the upper part of the beak similar to falcons and is used to dispatch their prey. Northern Shrike is also known as the butcherbird or the butcher watchman, names well earned from its’ macabre survival skills. Birds of prey like Hawks, eagles, and falcons have powerful talons that are key to securing the victim. The Northern shrike has claws that are not any different than other songbirds. To help hold their victim while tearing into the flesh with their strong-curved bill, the shrike will carefully impale the prey on the pointed barbs of a barbed-wire fence or a long thorn. A fork in a convenient tree also works well to secure the victim. Killing more than it can eat caching of prey is a survival skill and can grow to six or seven locations throughout the shrike’s wintering territory. The Northern shrikes breed in the partly-open areas of the far north along the Arctic circle from Alaska east across northern Canada and south around Hudson Bay to Labrador.

Perched and watching for any movement along a brushy creek, a shrike is on high alert.

Sandhill Migration

Adult Sandhill cranes seem to bow to each other as they perform their elaborate dance display. The Sandhill cranes are most famous for their beautiful courtship dancing, which is more common, but they dance year-round while socializing, which is believed to be a way to bond with their partner.

November 11, 2021 – Chilly early November mornings in the Midwest bring sensational enhancements that satisfy the consciousness. There are the familiar smells of wood-burning stoves and mixed stands of trees in delightful shades of umber above their sturdy black trunks surrounded in silvery pockets of shifting ground fog that floats like ghostly spirits across the countryside. The senses are quickly lifted and seem to fall under a spell of nostalgic longing to the observer. A subtle change presents itself with color and complexity during this most thought-provoking and inspiring season of the year, the back-end period. Above in the slow-rolling gray skies, small flocks of low flying and noisy Canada geese are sharing airspace with much larger flocks of those great birds, the Sandhill cranes. As far as the eye can see, hundreds of Sandhill cranes, flying in all directions, have left their nightly roosts and are heading to their daytime feeding and socializing areas along the ditches and agricultural fields of Northern Indiana. The loud rattling calls of the Sandhill cranes fill the morning air, faint sounds of cranes off in the distance can be heard across the fields and past the woods over a mile away. Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area near Medaryville in Northern Indiana is a stopover during autumn for Sandhill cranes moving south for the winter. Each year the southbound Sandhill cranes begin arriving in northern Indiana in October. The numbers peak in late November through December. Thousands of cranes move out of the area and head further south towards the Gulf states by the end of December, but many cranes remain where they take advantage of a nearby power plant where they find open water year-round. For thousands of years, Sandhill cranes have followed the same routes south during the fall migration taking them where fair weather and food can sustain them through the cold winter months. With a fossil record dating back two and a half million years, Sandhill cranes are one of the oldest living bird species in North America. There is not a painting so beautiful as the experience of watching a flock of Sandhill cranes illuminated by the morning sun gliding low across a backdrop of autumn color.

Three Sandhill cranes, two juveniles, and an adult stand close together while cautiously watching an intruder pass by.

Leucistic Red-winged Blackbird

A leucistic female Red-winged Blackbird perches for a moment showing her peach colored head and white wings where pigment is missing from the birds feathers.

June 11, 2020 – A flash of white catches my eye as an interesting bird with peculiar markings flies just above some intentionally destroyed, non-native invasive plants that are known as the common reed or Phragmites. The stems of the dead Phragmites lay strewn like pick-up-sticks across the soft, damp, muddy shallows. The mystery bird perched for a moment on the tall stem of a native wetland grass, but soon flew down to the mucky waters edge where it began searching through the dark, wet organic debris occasionally using the dead Phragmites as a convenient perch. The bird began picking up small pieces of plant material and appeared to be looking for something specific as it hopped over standing water to the next little bit of duckweed covered mud and broken reeds. Soon the birds’ beak was full of small pieces of plant material. The curious colorful bird flew up and over the higher dry ground where prairie plants were thriving and dropped down into the thick green cover where it disappeared. In no time at all the busy bird was back on the marshy ground continuing its’ search for nesting material. By now the bird was no longer a mystery, its’ behavior, its’ song, and the nearby male that was protecting the territory revealed the species as a female Red-winged Blackbird that was working on a nest. The unusual coloring of the birds’ feathers is caused by a genetic condition known as leucism, a condition that prevents melanin from being sent to some of the birds plumage. Leucistic birds are recorded and photographed across many species each year, from Great Horned Owls and Bald Eagles to Cardinals and Hummingbirds, and in this case a Red-winged Blackbird. Some of the leucistic birds are almost completely white while others might only have some plumage that is affected, sometimes referred to as piebald.

An example of a female Red-winged Blackbird that is not affected by leucism.

The Tundra swan

A pair of Tundra swan at Black Oak Bayou, part of the LaSalle Fish & Wildlife Area along the Kankakee River in Newton County Indiana this past week. The swan on the right shows a very small yellow spot while the swan on the left has a much larger spot.

March 12, 2020 – The Tundra swan, also known as the Whistling swan, is a large handsome white bird with coal black legs and feet and a matching black bill. The Tundra appears very similar to the Trumpeter swan but is somewhat smaller, the Trumpeter being the largest waterfowl in North America with a wingspan that can exceed 8 ft. The Tundra swan also has a yellow spot to the front of each eye that is sometimes quite small and not easy to see without the help of a scope or binoculars. The Tundra and Trumpeter are true native swans that we get to see here in Illinois during the winter months and during spring and fall migrations. I should also mention another swan that is a year around resident and actually breeds here in Illinois, the Mute swan. The Mute swan is larger then the Tundra and a little smaller than the Trumpeter and is an Eurasian species that was introduced for its elegance and beauty to grace private estates, park lakes, and ponds and eventually escaped into the environment. The Mute has a bright orange bill with a black knob where the bill meets the face on the forehead helping make the bird easy to identify. When our native swans the Tundra and Trumpeter are seen together, the size difference helps distinguish them, but when seen separately one has to rely on other physical clues such as the yellow spot near their eyes on the “lores”, the area between the nostrils and the eyes. Something else to consider is that about 10% of Tundra swans will not have the yellow spots at all according to Sibley Guides. The bill of each bird offers even more clues, when looking directly face to face with the swans, the Tundra has more of rounded boarder along the top of the bill between the eyes while the Trumpeter has V shape. The slope of the head of each bird offers even more to be examined when looking at the birds profile, the Tundra has a rounded crown and the Trumpeter has more of a slope that lines up and continues down the bill. Now we are in late winter and the swans have been staging in our area for many weeks with other waterfowl waiting to move north. Soon these wonderful birds will start their flight towards the Arctic where they will spend a short summer nesting on the ponds, lakes, and the wetlands on the vast tundra of Canada and Alaska.

A closer look at the Tundra swan with a much larger yellow spot on the lores.

The Golden Eagle

A 4th year sub-adult Golden Eagle south of the Kankakee river this past week. The bird’s golden feathered head clearly visible as it flies out from a perch and glides over the winter landscape.

February 13, 2020 – Here in the Midwest it is now a common sight to see Bald eagles gliding high above the flat terrain of Northeastern Illinois and Northwestern Indiana. Nesting Bald eagles are also a more common occurrence in Illinois and Indiana, a remarkable rebound since the ban on DDT’s agricultural use in 1972. Illinois estimates indicate well over 300 active nests and for the state of Indiana a 2016 estimate shows close to 400 breeding pairs. Most often we see a magnificent Bald eagle or even a few of these great birds perched in a tall snag above open water along our rivers here in the Midwest, especially during those hard winter months. The eagles sit patiently waiting and watching while hunting ducks, coots, and fish or any other food opportunity that might come along. There is another species of eagle, the Golden eagle, that is less common and only seen or noticed by a lucky few during the fall and spring migrations. The Golden eagle may also be seen during the winter months in locations that provide open spaces, forests, and abundant prey. This winter a pair of Golden eagles were recorded in Iroquois county where they were photographed by bird enthusiast and nature photographer Bronson Ratcliff of Bourbonnais. Having a pair of wintering Golden eagles in our area is an exciting discovery. The Golden eagle nests across Canada and Alaska and in the mountainous western United States. They are year round residents and nest on the high cliffs and steep slopes with a open views throughout the Rocky Mountain states and west to the Pacific.
Here in the Midwest we watch for these large dark birds during the migrations. They are easily confused with Turkey vultures, Juvenile Bald eagles, or any large dark raptor. The 1st year juvenile Golden eagles have bright white tail feathers except for 2 or 3 inches of the tips which are dark brown. They can also have bright white patches on the tops and bottoms of the their wings from the middle of the wings out towards the ends, and are easy to see during flight. The 1st year bird is probably the easiest to identify with those good solid markings, but as they age, those bright white feathers start to fade as they get their adult feathers and other indicators must be looked at. The gold feathers on the back of the head and nape of the neck is another obvious clue that is easy to spot. The two tones of light and dark feathers on the head and neck, even on a perched bird in the shadows of a tree, stand out. The Golden eagle also has a shorter neck and smaller bill than the juvenile Bald eagle. Another comparison is the Golden eagle has feathered legs that go down to the feet and the Bald eagle does not. Next time you see that large dark raptor soaring above, look a little closer, it may be a Golden eagle.

The tail-feathers of this 4th year bird show the white colors disappearing as the eagle nears adulthood.

Rough-legged Hawks

A light morph Rough-legged hawk with wings spread wide searches for prey on the prairie below.

January 16, 2010 – Imagine looking out over a vast expanse of rolling and rocky terrain that stretches as far as the eye can see. Off in the distance you notice, from your high vantage atop a narrow rocky ledge on the southern slope of a mountain, an Arctic fox with its’ nose to the ground as it zigzags in a slow but deliberate trot across the tundra. At times the little fox disappears behind the slight rises of the uneven landscape and soon goes out of view completely. Further out towards the west is the unmistakable and heart stopping sight of a large white predator. A hungry Polar bear is walking with large, intimidating strides along the edge of an Arctic pond, surprising a pair of skittish Eider ducks. The birds quickly begin paddling away towards the center of the pond putting some distance between them and the dangerous intruder. Those sights that we just imagined could be the very real views that the nesting Rough-legged hawks might see while they spend the warmer months in the high Arctic paired up, nesting, and raising their young. The Rough-legged hawk is one of a small number of moderate-distance migratory hawks that we are fortunate enough to see here in Northeastern Illinois during the winter. These amazing hawks will find a good hunting spot, open terrain similar to that of the Arctic tundra, where there is plenty of prey with not much competition and most likely stay in that same general area for the winter. The open agricultural areas and restored prairies of Northern Illinois and Northwestern Indiana are great places to find these large hawks hunting. The plumage of the Rough-legged hawks can differ, some birds are very dark and some are light in color. They are referred to as a dark or a light morph. The Rough-legged hawk will take advantage of windy days and hover into the wind to hold their position above the prairie while hunting mice, voles, and birds. Fence posts, utility poles, and the smaller branches in the tops of trees where they can grip with their small feet are places the hawks will use to watch for prey.

Perched in the mid-morning sun a Rough-legged hawk along a rural road east of Kankakee stays alert for movement below.

The Northern Harrier

A hunting Northern Harrier spreads its’ tail-feathers slowing down quickly to catch the prey below.

December 19, 2019 – Gliding low and slow across the agricultural fields and the grassy waterways and prairies here in Northeastern Illinois are the beautiful Northern harriers. Once known as the Marsh hawk, these steep banking, quick stopping, hunting birds are considered here in the United States as “resident to long-distance migrants” According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We see an increase in numbers during the fall migration and into the winter months throughout Illinois. The harriers nest in numbers from Northern Wisconsin north into Canada and Alaska. These ground nesting hawks require large amounts of grasslands or wetland habitats for successful nesting. Some of the harriers winter from just south of the southern edge of their summer range, while others migrate all the way south to Central and South America. The stealthy, medium-sized hawks can be seen flying and hunting across Illinois’s cold sleeping landscape, looking and listening for movement coming from the dried dormant grasses just beneath their silent glide. When the focused hunters detect prey they use their long wings and long tail feathers to quickly turn and stop their graceful forward movement and instantly drop down on a field mouse or vole. The harriers are often seen diving at and chasing away Rough-legged hawks, Red-tailed hawks and even other harriers that get too close to their perceived hunting areas. The Northern Harriers are easily identified as they fly low across fields and prairies, their wings most often in a v-shape, and there is a white rump patch at the top of their long tail feathers. The female harriers and the immature birds are dark reddish-brown and tan, and the male adult birds, slightly smaller than the female, are a light-gray and almost white on some parts of the body, the tips of their wings are black. Often perched on a fence post or sitting in a field with a captured prey, one can get a good look at the feather pattern on the harrier’s face, it has a round appearance and resembles that of an owl. The disk like pattern of feathers on the harriers face is believed to help the hawks hear their prey as they hunt.

An adult female Northern Harrier keeps a wary eye as it glides by the photographer.

Turkey Vultures

A flock of over 30 adult and juvenile Turkey vultures on a rural road east of Kankakee recently.

September 5, 2019 – Throughout the summer months, in the skies over northeastern Illinois, all one has to do is look up to see those large, soaring, dark colored birds gently gliding in the summer thermals. The wings of the Turkey vultures are slightly, but noticeably, pointing up. The unmistakable dihedral angle or “v” shape of their wings while in flight are much different from other large birds like eagles and hawks. Those birds extend their wings straight out and flat from their body when soaring, and appear more like a sailplane. Even at a distance a Turkey vulture can be quickly ID’d by its’ shape and flight patterns. It is not uncommon to witness large numbers of Turkey vultures perched in an old snag preening and drying their wings in the morning sun. It seems that if one bird spreads its’ wings to warm up and dry out, the other perched vultures quickly follow suit. Soon that old tree full of vultures with wings spread wide begins to take on the appearance of the partially furrowed sails hanging from the foremast of an 18 century brigantine. The birds, with their wings stretched out, slowly and carefully begin to turn and reposition on those sometimes shaky branches as they continue their warming in the early sun drying the nighttime dew from their damp feathers. When the time is right and the their feathers are dry and ready for flight the birds begin to lift off from their roost. They leave, a few at a time, flapping their large wings and climbing upward into a column of the warm rising air to begin their daily search for carrion. Throughout the day the vultures are found in fields and along the rural roads and highways where their keen sense of smell and great vision has lead them to their primary food source, road kill. Most of the Turkey vultures will start moving south late in the year and spend the winter from far southern Illinois on south. In recent years though, with milder winters, there are larger numbers remaining throughout the winter months in central Illinois. The Turkey vultures are some of the first to arrive in numbers here in northern Illinois in late winter for another nesting season.

An adult Turkey vulture quickly moves away from the road walking further into a field with other birds.