Saturday, May 8th, was a very big day for Illinois birders. It was the 2021 Illinois Spring Bird Count, Global Big Day, and World Migratory Bird Day in the United States and Canada.
My son, Aaron, and I celebrated by counting birds on the west side of Chicago and just west of Chicago, in Oak Park and along the Des Plaines River. We found 84 species of birds in all, which was a pretty good total, considering that migration seems a bit behind schedule this year.
This table lists the parks we covered for the Illinois Spring Bird Count, with species totals and eBird links:
| Park and location: | # Species: | eBird list: |
| Douglas Park, Chicago | 60 | https://ebird.org/checklist/S87445885 |
| Garfield Park, Chicago | 59 | https://ebird.org/checklist/S87483203 |
| Columbus Park, Chicago | 53 | https://ebird.org/bcn/checklist/S87627390 |
| Riis Park, Chicago | 30 | https://ebird.org/bcn/checklist/S87614089 |
| Taylor Park, Oak Park | 8 | https://ebird.org/bcn/checklist/S87599481 |
| Fullerton Woods, River Grove | 42 | https://ebird.org/checklist/S87524954 |
This table lists all the birds we found in our Spring Bird Count areas on Saturday, May 8, 2021:
| Species: | Count: |
| Canada Goose | 228 |
| Wood Duck | 29 |
| Mallard | 71 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 1 |
| Rock Pigeon | 15 |
| Mourning Dove | 7 |
| Chimney Swift | 262 |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | 1 |
| Spotted Sandpiper | 2 |
| Solitary Sandpiper | 2 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 44 |
| Herring Gull | 4 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 2 |
| Green Heron | 2 |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | 5 |
| Turkey Vulture | 1 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 2 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 1 |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 2 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 13 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 |
| Northern Flicker | 8 |
| American Kestrel | 2 |
| Least Flycatcher | 6 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 2 |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 1 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 1 |
| Yellow-throated Vireo | 2 |
| Blue-headed Vireo | 2 |
| Warbling Vireo | 19 |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 1 |
| Blue Jay | 6 |
| American Crow | 7 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 13 |
| Northern Rough-winged Swallow | 7 |
| Tree Swallow | 14 |
| Bank Swallow | 1 |
| Barn Swallow | 61 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 12 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 4 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 3 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 24 |
| House Wren | 4 |
| European Starling | 191 |
| Gray Catbird | 12 |
| Veery | 1 |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 4 |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 |
| Wood Thrush | 1 |
| American Robin | 214 |
| House Sparrow | 185 |
| House Finch | 9 |
| American Goldfinch | 25 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 12 |
| Field Sparrow | 3 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 43 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 28 |
| Song Sparrow | 9 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 1 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 1 |
| Baltimore Oriole | 22 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 161 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 14 |
| Common Grackle | 68 |
| Ovenbird | 2 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 17 |
| Black-and-white Warbler | 17 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 4 |
| Nashville Warbler | 14 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 10 |
| American Redstart | 8 |
| Northern Parula | 4 |
| Magnolia Warbler | 5 |
| Yellow Warbler | 24 |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler | 2 |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 1 |
| Palm Warbler | 90 |
| Pine Warbler | 2 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | 30 |
| Black-throated Green Warbler | 8 |
| Northern Cardinal | 29 |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 2 |
| Indigo Bunting | 4 |
| Total species count: | 84 |
Neighborhood Nature 