Field trip recap: Black Feather Walk

Group of about 30 people in dark clothes (and one pink skirt), with binoculars, standing on grass at the intersection of two walkways, leafless trees behind them.

words by Carrie Lakin

Have you ever wondered just how good birding can be later in the day, say at 4 pm, in your local Chicago parks? COS’s recent “Black Feather Walk,” intent on sighting some of our Goth avian friends, visited Humboldt Park on April 11 to find out.

With a group of 30 participants dressed in dark clothing and at least 37 species of birds identified, it was a huge success! As spring migration is upon us, it offered a terrific variety of species to encounter, particularly for the first-time birders amongst the group.

Medium-sized bird in profile facing right. Head, neck and throat are iridescent blue-black. Remainder of bird is copper-black. The black beak is open in mid-call. The eye is yellow. The bird is perched among brown leaves on the ground.

Common Grackle. Photo by Alex Muench, Humboldt Park, April 22, 2023.

Our official feathered greeters upon arrival were some of the most colorful we saw, being a Belted Kingfisher on a log along the island and a beautiful pair of Wood Ducks at the boat house lagoon. Some Yellow-rumped Warblers and a few Northern Flickers added to the colorful mix along the trail just behind the boathouse.

Gradually we spotted some dark-feathered birds, including a few Goth classics legends: American Crow, European Starling, Common Grackle.

American Crow. Photo by Fran Morel, Montrose Bird Sanctuary, Feb. 20l 2020.

Our tour included some great commentary provided by COS member Annette Grish regarding the many superstitions associated with these dark-feathered creatures. Some of those stories have been passed down hundreds of years or more!

Much of our evening tour was filled with nice surprises, such as a five-drake mega fight amongst the Wood Ducks, most probably over the cute female perched in the tree nearby.

Thousands of black birds against an evening sky in the distance, with a dozen more blurry bird forms in a bare tree in the foreground.

A murmuration of European Starlings in a scene right out of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” Photo by Walter Marcisz, Hyde Lake, Nov. 16, 2021.

Other visitors worth mentioning were a Savanna Sparrow, a lone Killdeer and a pair of Caspian Terns diving to catch fish! For certain, we will carry the memory of a cooperative Red-tailed Hawk that remained perched on a low tree branch, offering us a great look at their plumage, tail color and shape.

We encourage everyone to get out there this year and enjoy the fun of exploring migration with a group or at a hosted event. Hopefully we learn something new about the creatures we share this planet with while admiring the individuality of each fabulous one of them!

Field TripKris Hansen