In all, 78 different species of birds were identified by members of Kane County Audubon as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count, a recent four-day annual worldwide count of birds.
Around the world, 5,689 species of birds were identified based on more than 162,000 checklists that were submitted from 130 countries.
With a goal of providing “an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds,” the 100-plus members of the Kane County Audubon, a chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society, submitted 287 checklists — the third highest submitted by a group in Illinois.
Launched in 1998, the Great Backyard Bird Count was formed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, as an online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds.
For 15 minutes people counted birds in an assortment of areas in Kane County — their backyards, a forest preserve, or the Fox River, according to Kane County Audubon President Bob Andrini, who turned in 21 checklists himself.
“Bird counts give us a good picture of birds throughout the United States,” Andrini said.
Of particular interest right now are bald eagles, Andrini said.
“A member recently counted 40 along the Fox River,” he said.
Andrini stressed that you don’t have to be an expert bird watcher to join the group.
“Bird watching opens up a whole new world to people who typically really enjoy it once they get into it,” he said.
Long-time Audubon member Jerry Hope said the group is involved with issues related to science, nature, and conservation.
“We try to make a difference,” he said.
One of his fascinations is the bald eagle, which was at one time almost extinct in the lower 48 states, due largely to the chemical DDT.
“This is one area where mankind has reversed the trend,” Hope said. “The bald eagle, hawks, and owls have had a fantastic recovery.”
Andrini, who is a retired biology teacher, now goes birding with his wife almost every day.
Many bird enthusiasts keep an annual checklist and throughout the year can spot 200 to 300 different types of birds, he said.
“Our group comes from every walk of life,” he said. “Some prefer only coming to the field trips and some come only to the meetings and some do both.”
Hope said the group is evolving in Kane County.
“We are starting to see families with younger children becoming involved with the group and have a chance to get kids away from the television and computer screen and to enjoy and love nature,” he added.
From September through May, the group meets at Hickory Knolls Discovery Center in St. Charles, and during the summer the group goes on field trips in local forest preserves.
“We have a field trip during the summer almost every weekend,” he said. “Someone will lead a bird walk and identify birds along the way.”
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“At this time of year, the ducks are in migration and the water fowl that had been down south where it is warm have started to come through our area and are heading north,” he said.
With the warming trends, overall statistics show that southern birds are moving north, Andrini said.
Recently, the Carolina Chickadee is starting to extend its range north as the temperature increases, he said.
“It seems like the birds are smarter than us in some ways, Hope said. “They breed in the north and winter in the far south.”
He said changes in temperatures are having an impact on birds.
“All our counts prove the migration change due to the temperature change,” he said. “Years ago, we wouldn’t have seen Great Blue Heron, American Egrets, and Cormorants – these are southern … birds that have moved to our area for breeding.”
He said the movement of birds provides information on climate changes.
“Being outside you can tell the effect humans have had on the environment,” he said.
Cathy Janek is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News