Field Trip Recap: Black Feather Sunday Social

words by Chris Holden

On Halloween afternoon, approximately 40 bird, Goth, and/or costume enthusiasts gathered in Humboldt Park for a very special Halloween edition of Black Feather, COS’s semi-regular Goth bird walk series. 

Participants were encouraged to come in costume, and they included a Black-Crowned Night Heron, a Blue Jay, an Indian Peacock, an unspecified tropical fancy bird, and an indoor house cat. 

Many of the participants played Goth Bird Bingo, seeking to identify birds on the walk that were on their bingo cards. 

Before introductions could be completed, an American Kestrel made an appearance, which dazzled all the onlookers, and crossed off many bingo boxes for folks. 

As we circled the lagoon, we were next bedazzled by dozens of American Goldfinches, many obliging Wood Ducks, and a shyly adorable Pied-billed Grebe. 

We then struck sparrow gold (sparrow brown?) a short while later, finding a large flock of feeding White-Throated Sparrows that had Dark-Eyed Juncos,White-Crowned Sparrows, and Fox Sparrows mixed in. Ruby-Crowned Kinglets, Northern Cardinals, and an Orange-crowned Warbler all made appearances around this time as well. 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Em de Blas, Brookfield Zoo, April 24, 2024.

Shortly thereafter various participants began to triumphantly shout Bingo, as European Starlings, Red-Winged Black Birds, and other Goth Birds began to turn up, giving folks five birds in a row on their cards. 

As the trip went on, we found a second American Kestrel and a sassy American Coot.  By trip’s end, our bird species count stood at 25.