Spring 2001

Which species of trees provide the best foraging opportunities for migratory birds in spring? That’s the question being asked in a new Migratory Bird Habitat study. And it will be answered by people who love birds and people who love trees.

Expert volunteers and staff, mostly paired in teams of two, will first establish a transect or route in the area to be studied. They’ll record the size and species of every tree along the transect, so they’ll know the proportions of tree species in their study. Then, on at least three separate occasions during migration, they’ll record which bird species are foraging in which trees along the transect. The team also will note whether the tree is flowering, leafed out, or still dormant. In wild areas, trees will be mapped 5 meters extending from both sides of a footpath.

Wayne Svoboda, a birder from Evanston and volunteer steward at North Park Village in Chicago, participated in a trial run of the study last spring at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. He worked with other birders, tree experts, and scientists to establish protocols for the study. "You have to appreciate habitat to know where the birds will be," he says. "The two are intimately connected." Svoboda says he is excited to get out this spring and begin gathering data.

"The City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District will use the information to decide what types of trees they will buy," says National Audubon Society’s Rickie White. The study will also help assess the impact of management on migratory bird habitat in the forest preserves.

The study is being funded by the Urban Conservation Treaty for Migratory Birds signed last March by Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Jamie Rappoport Clark. Says Judy Pollock of the Bird Conservation Network, "It’s great to see the birders working so closely with Chicago officials."

For more information or to participate in the study, call Steve Frankel at (847) 965-1150.