Birding in Chicago, 2024

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Chicago, the windy city, hosts many migrating birds in spring and in May 2024 also hosted two Australian bird enthusiasts. Was it windy? Yes, and it was sometimes rainy, but fortunately we had a few sunny days to explore some major hotspots as well as appreciate the impressive city architecture and a few of the many excellent restaurants. Our original plan was to use Chicago as a base to explore a little around Illinois, and to hop across to Magee Marsh in Ohio, a very highly regarded spring migration site. However, we opted in the end to stay within Chicago’s boundary and concentrate on what the parks and sanctuaries there had to offer.

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

We talked to many other birders while exploring Texas and Arizona, and when they found out we were going to Chicago, everyone said “You should go to Montrose!” Its reputation (a whopping 47000+ eBird checklists, for example) precedes it – it was already on our list of places to visit – which led to some pretty high expectations. In particular in one section called “The Magic Hedge” we expected birds to be sitting waiting out in the open to get their photos taken, given how much it was spoken about. Alas reality set in pretty soon after arriving… birds were not quite set out on a platter… and once the mental adjustments were made, we did end up seeing quite a few birds and having some lovely encounters.

We saw our very first Black-Throated Green Warbler at Montrose. For the curious, there are also Black-Throated Gray Warblers and Black-Throated Blue Warblers in North America!
I dearly wanted to get a clean shot of a male American Redstart, but they were so flitty and quick that this was the best I could do
Yellow Warblers are a companiable presence at most birding sites in the region
Black-and-White Warblers are fun to watch as they circle around branches, often upside down
It’s never not-awesome to spy a colourful Baltimore Oriole somewhere in the forest
Is Montrose popular with birders at migration time? Ummm….. yes, yes it is.
A Downy Woodpecker hiding in in the tree trunks
Hundreds of Bank Swallows were using a long sandbank to nest in
A Northern Rough-Winged Swallow takes a quick break from swooping around for insects with the Bank Swallows
A Savannah Sparrow hanging out on an isolated cable, unaware of the nearby bird photographer’s gratitude
Montrose has a beach! This is where you will also find a locally famous Piping Plover, whose beachside patch is heavily fenced off and protected.
A flock of Sanderlings heading in to shore
We saw a couple of Spotted Sandpipers, foraging in shallow water as they are wont to do
Mallards are shiny… so shiny.

North Pond, Lincoln Park and Lincoln Park Zoo

There is a little cluster of nature sites here that includes North Pond Nature Sanctuary, and the sprawling Lincoln Park, which encloses a zoo. Zoos aren’t our first preference to visit when we are travelling, but when you have a free one that opens at the time you are visiting the area, why not have a look? A couple of open-to-the-air ponds are set up to encourage migrating birds to stop and have a rest and it’s not incredibly obvious which birds are considered captive (the Flamingos there certainly seem captive and very non-endemic to the area; do they clip the wings of the Trumpeter Swans or are they wild?) The zoos’ aviaries also offered viewing of an eclectic collection of captive birds (Masked Lapwings are presumably more interesting only for non-Australian visitors!), and the birds here gave us some good inspiration of where we might want to travel to view birds on our next trip.

Note: usual bird-spots.com policy is not to show pictures of captive birds or animals, as we prefer to discuss and promote the beauty and characteristics of wild birds. Here, however we have chosen to make an exception given that this is a Trip Report and not a hotspot review.

There were a few Canada Geese, a few Wood Ducks, and plenty of House Sparrows at North Pond, but otherwise it was a little unremarkable
Hooded Merganser at the open-air pond in Lincoln Park Zoo
How amazingly patterned is the Wood Duck? Every time you look a bit closer at its head you see something new…
This Swan Goose is not native to North America; this one didn’t seem captive (it was in the open air pond)
This captive Snowy Owl had a large enclosure all to itself, right by the Bald Eagle enclosure
The epically moustachio’d Inca Tern (captive bird)
An oh-so-shiny Golden-Breasted Starling (captive bird)
This one is a Collared Finchbill (captive bird)
A Red-Capped Cardinal with attitude (captive bird)

City Parks, Waterfront and Piers

Chicago feels like it is on the ocean rather than a lake, and the number of gulls and terns around add to that impression. Walking through the parks we got a feel for what the urban birds are here, in a different part of the country than we had explored on our trip so far (see also: south Texas, and Arizona). Blackbirds, grackles and various types of sparrows were ubiquitous, and of course you’re never far from an American Robin.

A view back to the skyline of Chicago from South Pier
Many Ring-Billed Gulls were ferrying nesting material from a nearby site…
…to help build their nests in this huge colony
Did you know that the Caspian Tern is the largest tern in the world? It’s true.
A Red-Winged Blackbird male harassed us as we had some lunch at Maggie Daley Park, even clambering onto my backpack. Cheeky bird!
Female Red-Winged Blackbirds kept their distance more so than the males, though they were still clearly not too afraid of humans
Why is this Common Grackle having a grumpy day? Could it be the rain? We may never know.
Lincoln’s Sparrow near Millenium Park
A busy Black-Capped Chickadee in Millenium Park, not far from the famous “bean”.
This White-Crowned Sparrow posed for a photo at the otherwise fairly disappointing Olive Park hotspot, just near Navy Pier
A Cliff Swallow zips through the air, readily identifiable with its white forehead
House Sparrows with a bit of the ole bump’n’grind

Wooded Island and Jackson Park

Want to mix your birding with touring? Spend some time in Wooded Island and Jackson Park while waiting for the Museum of Science and Industry to open. We went there chasing warblers, Fox Sparrow, an outside chance of a Bobolink (hey, there is a section there called Bobolink Meadow…) and Wood Ducks (which we did find, but got much better photos of them at Lincoln Park). In the process we discovered the lovely Garden of the Phoenix which had the most popular conifer tree that we have seen on our trip; it was brimming full of warblers.

Immaculate gardens in immaculate weather (though, to be sure, it was a bit nippy)… nice surrounds for birding, anyhow
An Eastern Kingbird fluffed up in the morning chill
It’s hard to get a clear-ish shot of a Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher, but made easier in the early morning when it’s still drowsy and fluffed-up in the cold
I checklisted three Cape May Warblers here, but there were probably more. What a treat!
This Pine Warbler sat in the same spot and went through its cleaning routine without a care for the nearby people
Warbling Vireos often seem to come up in the Merlin app’s Sound ID feature when birding, well before you’ve laid eyes on them
This small bird of prey is a Merlin, the only one we would see on our entire trip. Several other birds were squawking angrily at it and it eventually got the hint and flew off.
There’s always a Northern Cardinal attending every birding session, it seems
The frequency of Song Sparrows just kept increasing as we kept going north (see also… the Pacific Northwest, which is full of ’em)
A Squirrel asks the important questions: “Do I look good in backlighting?”

Summary

Chicago fit the bill perfectly as a place to do some casual birding – like, not all day every day, but “the occasional morning” mixed in with some sightseeing. We spent six nights there and did birding expeditions on four of the mornings – including twice to the illustrious Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary. We were well satisfied with the half dozen birding sites we went to, and equally happy to fill the rest of our time there taking in all the tourist sights and eating amazing food.

Some stats, for those inclined to enjoy stats!

  • Most numerous birds: Ring-Billed Gull, Bank Swallow, Blue Jay, Mallard
  • Total species seen: 70
  • Most memorable encounters: Merlin, Pine Warbler, Bank Swallow, Veery
  • Most unexpected birds: Merlin, Veery, Hooded Merganser
  • Favourite sites: Probably… all of ’em!
  • Birds to go back for: Eastern Phoebe, Fox Sparrow, Horned Grebe, Bay-Breasted Warbler, and plenty of others

eBird Trip Report

AUTHOR: ANDY GEE
BIRDERS: ANDY GEE, K-A

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