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Dickcissels in the Chicago area? (1 Viewer)

Swissboy

Sempach, Switzerland
Supporter
Switzerland
I'll visit Chicago in the first week of June. On previous visits, which were either earlier or in the fall, I never managed to find Dickcissels. This time, I think they should be around. Any suggestions where my chances are particularly good. I imagine driving south or west should increase the chances?
 
Robert,

One site at which Dickcissels should be guaranteed is Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, its a relatively short distance south of Chicago. See: http://www.fs.fed.us/mntp/

There probably are areas closer to the city that have Dickcissel, but I don't know of them. A pdf of the Chicago Area Birding Trail is at: http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_ATTACH/birding_guide_finalsingle.pdf

You would likely get all sorts of help if you join the Illinois Birding Listerv (known as IBET) and make an inquiry there. You can sign onto IBET at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ILbirds/

Although the listerv is for Illinois, its content is probably 90% Chicago area.

In addition to the Birding Trail guide, a good reference for Chicago area birding is A Birder's Guide to the Chicago Region: by Lynne Carpenter and Joel Greenburg.

Lastly, Urs geiser has an informative site at: http://home.xnet.com/~ugeiser/Birds/Birding.html
 
I'll visit Chicago in the first week of June. On previous visits, which were either earlier or in the fall, I never managed to find Dickcissels. This time, I think they should be around. Any suggestions where my chances are particularly good. I imagine driving south or west should increase the chances?

Well, I'm back from my trip. Dickcissels were plenty at Midewin in the area of the Henslow Trail. There were also quite a few Bobolinks which I particularly love. Such handsome chaps! Henslow Sparrow, however, was easier at Goose Lake. Still needed a bit of tape help for that fellow, however. I very much liked both areas just for their fine prairie feeling. Good to see these well managed, as far as I can tell.

The book suggested above was a great help for preparing my trip. And it should be most helpful for future visits to the area as well. This time, there were just two days of birding.
 
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