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Rare Bird Coming Back to Pratt's Wayne Woods

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Marni Pyke Daily Herald Staff Writer

If you spot a flash of yellow in Pratt's Wayne Woods, it's not a canary run amok.

Instead, consider the sighting an omen of good ecological times to come.

For years, yellow-headed blackbirds were a rarity in northern Illinois. Although native to the area, destruction of wetlands destroyed the blackbirds' habitat.

But converting farm fields back to marshes at Pratt's Wayne Woods in Wayne and James "Pate" Philip State Park in Bartlett is reversing that trend.

At 10 a.m. this morning in Philip Park, the two preserves will be jointly named as an Audubon Important Bird Area.

There are only 48 such areas in Illinois. The Audubon Society's important bird area program is an international effort that recognizes sites providing crucial habitats for threatened species.

One of the reasons for the recognition is a colony of yellow- headed blackbirds. The state-endangered species is making a partial comeback at least in DuPage County, experts said.

Illinois Natural History Survey biologist Michael Ward explained the birds thrived in the 1800s along river valleys.

"As agriculture came in and cities expanded, the population shrunk," Ward said.

When the DuPage County Forest Preserve District started eliminating drainage tile and re-creating wetlands at the two parks, the blackbirds somehow took notice.

"It's true, if you build it, they will come," DuPage Birding Club President David Fisher said.

But you can't just build anything for this species.

"These birds are very particular about the type of habitat they use," forest preserve animal ecologist Scott Meister said.

"They like hemi-marsh, which are wetlands interspersed with vegetation."

The blackbirds build their nests around clusters of cattails and feed on the dragonflies that frequent the marshes.

Naturalists can't say what exactly caused the yellow-heads to return to DuPage.

"There may be a certain built-in 'we used to nest there' genetic memory," Fisher said.

This summer found about two dozen blackbirds in Pratt's Wayne Woods, although right now most are likely in Mexico for the winter.

But come April, there's an easy way to tell when the yellow- heads are back.

Ward explains, "they sit on top of the cattails and sing and sing and sing."

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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