2023: The Year in Birds

Sora. Memorial Park, April 30, 2023. Photo by Jeff Bilsky.

words by Eric Houghton

Happy New Year COS family! As the year draws to a close, we wanted to look back at some of the significant birding events for Chicago from 2023.

What’s in a Name? A Lot, Actually!

This year saw some big changes in terms of how we define ourselves and the names we use to do so. In February, the Chicago Bird Alliance (fka the Chicago Audubon Society) announced plans to drop “Audubon” from their title due to the problematic history of their former namesake, John James Audubon. The name change officially took place in October and was applauded by many. In related news, the National Audubon Society announcedin March of 2023 that they would not be dropping “Audubon” from their name, which was met with mixed reactions.

Cooper’s Hawk. Graceland Cemetery, June 28, 2023. Photo by Katharine Spencer.

With so much attention focused on names and their meaning, who they include, and who they exclude, it’s not surprising that the discussion on naming conventions continued throughout the year. In November, the American Ornithological Society announced plans to rename several species of birds, such as the Cooper’s Hawk, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Wilson’s Snipe, to names more appropriate to the species and less focused on the humans that “discovered” them. Though not without their detractors, these shifts away from the problematic pasts of the mostly white, mostly male naturalists signals a continued push for inclusivity in the birding world.

And speaking of changes in image, our very own Chicago Ornithological Society got a bit of a glow up this year as well with the introduction of our new logo! The new logo keeps the iconic American Woodcock as its primary inspiration but adds the colors and symbolism of the Chicago city flag to give it some regional flair and distinction.

Do You Come Here Often?

Ross’s Gull. Rainbow Beach, March 11, 2023. Photo by Matt Zuro.

This year was a great year for rare visitors to our part of the world. In March, a Ross’s Gull, a very rare visitor from the Arctic, graced our shores. The last time a Ross’s gull was spotted in Cook County was nearly 50 years ago in 1978.

American Flamingo. Port Washington, Wisconsin, September 22, 2023. Photo by Ian Sarmiento.

That wasn’t the only uncommon sighting in the area. In late September, a quintet of American Flamingos made a brief stopover in Wisconsin, just a little north of Milwaukee in Port Washington. Likely blown off course by Hurricane Idalia, the birds spent a few days in Lake Michigan, making this the first sighting of their kind ever in Wisconsin.

Speaking of rare visitors, 2023 saw more Limpkins in Illinois, continuing a recent trend of a dramatic increase to the tropical bird’s range. The first sighting of a Limpkin in Illinois occurred in 2019, with a solitary bird spotted near Olney, Illinois, then sightings of two Limpkins in 2021 and 2022, according to Geoff Williamson, Recording Secretary of the Illinois Ornithological Records Committee. This year, at least 24 of the gangly shorebirds were spotted in Illinois.

The reason behind the influx of the tropical bird to the colder climes of the Midwest is unclear; possibly climate change has pushed them northward, or perhaps an influx of invasive snails to the area is to blame. In a heartwarming follow-up to this story, a local wildlife rehab center drove some Limpkins back down to the Gulf Coast to save the birds from starving and freezing this winter. Since Limpkins are non-migratory, the actions of these stewards potentially saved the birds from a sad fate.

Palm Warbler. Montrose Point, May 6, 2023. Photo by Dustin Weidner.

Collisions Continue to Threaten

Unfortunately 2023 was not a good year for the safety of our migratory birds. October’s massive collision event made news around the country for the sheer number of birds killed in one night. The tragic event started as a thrilling, rare moment in the fall migration, boasting “rivers of birds flying overhead” as one birder described.

The notoriously collision-prone McCormick Place was responsible for nearly 1,000 collision deaths alone. The facility, which regularly opts out of the Lights Out policy developed by Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Nature and Wildlife Committee to protect migratory birds, has promised to do better in the future, but it remains to be seen how they intend to do so.

Piping Plover (Wild Indigo). Montrose Beach, July 16, 2023. Photo by Ian Sarmiento.

Plover Love Continues

No recap of 2023 would be complete without news of our Piping Plovers! Imani, the offspring of beloved Monty and Rose, returned to Montrose Beach in April. Although no mate for Imani ever showed up, there was a huge increase in Plover populations around the Great Lakes, with 71 mating pairs reported in June of 2023, compared to the 44 pairs reported in May of 2022.

Imani didn’t spend his entire summer alone, though. He was joined by three chicks, Searocket, Prickly Pear, and Wild Indigo, who were rescued from an abandoned nest in New York. This was the first time Piping Plover chicks have been released into the wild in Illinois.

Although there were many more stories, these were the big events that shaped the birding world for us in the Chicago area, and beyond, in 2023. Here’s hoping that more attention is paid to making birding inclusive to all birders and safer for the birds themselves. Maybe the folks who can’t be bothered to dim their facility’s lights for a few weeks a year should get a visit from the Peregrine Falcons who “terrorized” the Loop this past spring. Just kidding! (But not really.)