Seasonal Sightings Join us in May for our Canoe to a Heron Rookery program! (p. 18) NNeessttinging B Biirrddss by Kim Compton Education and Visitor Center Services Coordinator Springtime is the time for birds to build their nests and lay their eggs. About 115 bird species nest in McHenry County. As you hike on the trails this spring, see if you can spot any of these unique nests. MARCH-APRIL Great blue herons look very awkward perched in trees, but Killdeer nest on the ground and barely that is exactly where they build their nests. Great blue herons do anything to make a nest. They scrape will often nest together with other herons, egrets and a little divot in the ground and maybe cormorants. A group of nests in a colony like this is called a add a couple of pebbles. The eggs are rookery. Rookeries are usually located near water and are easy speckled and blend in very well. The to see due to the large stick nests all gathered together in a bene昀椀ts of this camou昀氀age are, of course, group of trees. The male brings sticks to the female and the female places them to make the nest. The inside of the nest is that predators have trouble 昀椀nding the nest. est The disadvantage is that humans may not see Killdeer N lined with smaller twigs, grasses and leaves. the nest either and sometimes step on or drive over the nest! Pay attention though, and the adults will warn you 昀椀rst. Both MAY males and females take turns on the nest and when someone Baltimore Orioles are probably best comes too close, the parent will start walking away, dragging a known for their unique and intricate wing, lean to the side, and make pitiful cries. They are faking an nest building. The female is the sole k ci injury and trying to lead the predator away from the nest. They n W builder and she creates an amazingly Ke walk further away until they feel the nest is safe before 昀氀ying t / strong nest that is suspended from a es away from the predator. e N branch and hangs in the wind. She uses iol e Or plant stalks like milkweed and weaves them Baltimor APRIL together into a sock-like shape with the opening Barn swallows, as their name implies, S W on the top. She may also use string, horsehair and grasses. F S have a fondness for barns. But they also U , y Hummingbird nests are not easy to 昀椀nd because they are so like to nest in picnic shelters. Look up at ne small and well camou昀氀aged. Usually about 10-20 feet up in a ar the rafters and you will see a nest made e K tree, on a downward leaning branch, the female will build a Le of mud and grasses stuck to the side of a t / nest that is only 1 to 2 inches in diameter. First, she attaches es wooden beam. You will probably also notice w N bud scales to the branch with spider silk. Lichens are added to allo the parents chattering and 昀氀ying back and forth Barn Sw the outside of this and then plant down as well. nervously if you are too close to their nest. Barn swallows are not very territorial with birds of their While looking for nests and watching nesting behavior may be own species, and you may see several nests in one small area. fascinating, please make sure to keep your distance. If the birds Tree Swallows are also aptly named. But instead of making a are getting agitated, you should move further away. It takes a nest on a branch like many woodland birds do, tree swallows tremendous amount of energy to raise young in the wild and take over a woodpecker nesting hole in a dead branch. They will we don’t want to cause any extra stress to the parents. But if also use nest boxes. Tree swallows take their time building their done carefully, watching nesting birds is a great experience! nest, sometimes up to a month. You may spot both the male and the female 昀氀ying to their nest with grasses, used for the Please note that bird nests are protected by law and for most you need a foundation, or feathers, used for the lining. Both sexes collect federal permit to have them in your possession. Please leave nests where they materials, but it is primarily the female that constructs the nest. are, even if they appear to be abandoned. 10 Landscapes | Spring 2024