Greater Chicago’s Bird Diversity

BirdNote^®

Greater Chicago’s Bird Diversity

Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote. 

[Chicago soundscape: road hum, birds, lapping waves]

When you think of Chicago, you might think of the Cubs, Navy Pier, maybe a pungent Chicago Dog — maybe not bird diversity. But Judy Pollock says the Chicago area is crucial to birds, and has a grassroots conservation movement that supports many nature preserves.

Judy Pollock: A lot of people don't realize, but the Chicago area has the highest concentration of endangered species in the state because of these preserves.

As the founding president of the Bird Conservation Network, Judy has helped organize a team of more than 200 volunteers to survey birds each summer throughout the Chicago metro area. After completing 22 years of surveys, the organization has a much clearer picture about the birds that nest there. 

    [Bobolink song]

There were some troubling declines over the two decades, particularly among grassland birds such as Bobolinks and Grasshopper Sparrows, which are also declining nationwide. But there were also encouraging signs that diverse habitats in the region are helping keep birds around. There were increases in the populations of birds that use woodlands and wetlands, including the charismatic Sandhill Crane.

    [Sandhill Crane call]

Judy Pollock: We've got so many birds coming back, you know, like from the time I started birding, you never saw a Sandhill Crane. You never saw a Bald Eagle. You never saw a pelican. You never saw an Osprey, okay. And now, all those birds are coming back and they're nesting in our area. It's really exciting.

    [Sandhill Crane call]

Judy Pollock: Sometimes you tend to think that people are the problem, but in our area, they're an asset.

For BirdNote, I’m Conor Gearin.

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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Field recordings by Allison Wilson
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Bobolink ML527283 recorded by Wil Hershberger, and Sandhill Crane ML133093 by G Keller. 
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote   December 2022         
Narrator: Conor Gearin

ID# pollockj-01-2022-12-16    pollockj-01