Conservation – Illinois Ornithological Society

Chicago Piping Plover Summer 2024 Intern reflects on her experiences

Jessica Cortez worked to promote conservation efforts and raise awareness about our Piping Plovers and other birds that use the Montrose Beach and Dunes through her education outreach

Back in April, I was working as a nanny to my two beautiful nieces and wondering what my next step was going to be. I had graduated from the University of Michigan in 2022 and still hadn’t explored many opportunities in my field. One day while I was giving my nieces breakfast, my mother frantically ran upstairs to tell me that my father had just heard of a summer position on the beach involving birds in some way or another, and that I should apply. If there are a few things that everyone knows about me, it’s that I love birds, I love the beach, and I love to talk! This sounded almost too good to be true, until I did some further research and found the position my father had described.

Piping Plover and Shorebird Outreach Intern. I didn’t exactly know what this position entailed, but spending time on the beach and talking to people about endangered birds sounded like a regular summer day to me, and obviously the job of my dreams. Despite my nerves almost getting the best of me, I applied to what appeared to be the position of my fantasies, and to my absolute delight, I got accepted! Although I initially thought this position was the job of my dreams, my dreams hadn’t even come close to just how fun and fulfilling this position actually ended up being.

From my first week on the beach, I was already getting a ton of engagement from people who wanted to hear all about the Piping Plovers. I couldn’t believe I was actually being paid to yap about birds- something I already frequently do. On top of that, people were actually interested in hearing about them! Before I knew it, people were visiting me at the beach and recognizing me from the various social media posts that mentioned my addition to the team. Some people even asked to take pictures with me, and to my amusement, many beach patrons told me that they endearingly referred to me as ‘beach girl’ or ‘bird girl’. On top of that, I was being supported by a team of great bosses who were giving me the liberty to decide exactly how I wanted to engage the public, and were open to listening to all of my crazy ideas.

Through my time at the beach, I talked to so many more people than I ever would have imagined could ever be interested in hearing about endangered birds on the beach. Every day, I was surprised that I was leaving feeling more fulfilled than the last. I wasn’t only engaging with people who already knew all about Monty and Rose and their history on Montrose like I’d initially assumed I would be, but I was talking to people from Central America and coastal Mexican cities who told me they’d seen plovers in their home countries. I was talking to food vendors on the beach who wanted to know why the beach was closed off in certain sections and subsequently what they could do to help protect the birds. I was talking to kids who didn’t even speak English but were nonetheless drawn in by the pictures of cute birdies that I had on my table.

Not only was I talking to such a vast and diverse amount of people, but I was also finally in a position where I could help reach my own community of Latinos in the city, a group that is so often overlooked in science circles. I was able to speak in my native tongue and it was actually considered to be an advantage versus just a characteristic that I had.

Sure, there were some instances of interacting with creepy men or rude people, but these very seldom occurrences of discomfort on the beach were so far outweighed by the immense love I felt from the Montrose community. From the lifeguards and paleteros working on the beach, to the frequent patrons that were always sure to stop by my table and ask about updates on Imani and crew, who all quickly became my friends, I felt so overwhelmingly accepted and supported on Montrose Beach. Which, admittedly, was something I was nervous about before starting my position. Plus, what other job position would allow me to take a quick dip in the lake on a hot summer day, or spend time birding when the day is slow?

Midway through the summer, essentially all of my close friends and family were asking for updates on the chicks and wanted to be the first to hear of any news with the plovers. These are mostly people who can’t tell a gull from a pigeon and couldn’t care less about birds in general, by the way. I felt so fulfilled to know that I was making a difference, not only at Montrose beach but even in my own circle. I know I had an impact on the plovers, just as much as they had an impact on me. Overall, I couldn’t have dreamed of a position more suited to exactly my interests and passions, and I don’t think there’s any other position where I could have had as much fun as I did.

Forever a plover lover,
Jessica Cortez

IOS Speaker Series: The Finch Research Network presents “Hawaiian Honeycreepers and the Conservation Crisis – Past, Present, and Future”

Wednesday, January 24th at 7:00pm

Click here to register.

Hawaiian Honeycreepers and the Conservation Crisis – Past, Present and Future

A group of rose finches from central Asia migrated over the Pacific Ocean, thus irrupting, as finches tend to do, 6,000 miles, landing on Hawaii more than 5 million years ago. This may have happened a few times. These finches found unique foods and habitats, and they adaptively radiated to dozens of species. This is similar to the story of Darwin’s finches, and these rose finches adaptively radiated into more 50 new species that exploited these food resources.

After settlers arrived, rats, cats, pigs, mongooses, invasive plants, diseases, and the most current threat, mosquitos carrying avian malaria, were introduced. From a high of 53-56 species, now only 16 remain. New efforts are being done to help the last remaining species.

The Finch Research Network and The Honeycreepers Project

Matt Young, FiRN Founder and Executive Director
Matt has been observing and enjoying nature since a very young age. He’s lived in Central New York for 26+ years and it was during this time when he really started studying everything from birds to orchids, and bogs and fens. Matt received his B.S. in Water Resources with a minor in Meteorology from SUNY-Oneonta and his M.S. in Ornithology from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry/Syracuse University in 2003. Matt did his masters research on avian diversity in restored wetlands of central New York at the Great Swamp Conservancy. He was a Regional Editor of the Kingbird for 10 years, the state ornithological journal in New York, was an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Studies at SUNY-Cortland, and currently teaches an Intro to Birding class for Cornell University and was the Board Chair at The Wetland Trust.

Over the last 26 years he’s worked as a social worker (and is currently) with special needs young adults and adolescents for close to 12 years, and worked at the Cornell Lab across 15+ years where he did extensive field work for the Lab’s Cerulean and Golden-winged Warblers atlas projects, and was project lead on the Lab’s first Finch Irruptive Bird Survey for Bird Source in 1999. He was the Collections Management Leader/Audio Engineer at the Macaulay Library ~12 years where he edited sounds for several Merlin packs around the world in addition to being the lead audio engineer on guides, the Songs of the Warblers of North America, Audubon Society Voices of Hawaii’s Birds, and the Cornell Lab’s Guides to Bird Sounds, the North America Master and Essential Sets. He’s been a tour guide leader for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, written finch species accounts for breeding bird atlases and Birds of the World, and has published several papers about the Red Crossbill vocal complex including describing a new call type Type 12. He’s currently working on Finches of United States and Canada with Lillian Stokes and is also the President and Founder of the Finch Research Network (FiRN).

Nathan Goldberg, FiRN Hawaiian Honeycreeper Project Lead
Nathan Goldberg is a graduate of Cornell University, and a tour leader and guide for the Red Hill Birding team. He is an avid birder for over a decade and from the Chicagoland region. In 2020, he set the Illinois Big Year record, seeing 341 species over the course of the year. After leading a trip in Hawaii in 2021 he reached out to Matt to get involved in helping raise awareness around the conservation crisis in Hawaii.

To learn more about the Honeycreepers Project, click here.

Click here to register.

IOS Conservation Committee Formation

As the state organization “Dedicated to Illinois Birds and Birding,” the IOS board thought it was time to form an IOS conservation committee to work on behalf of this motto. Myself and Ted Wolff volunteered to take up this endeavor and have already been meeting and talking with members interested in joining the committee. As this committee continues to solidify its role, we are looking for any IOS members interested in being a part of the conservation committee.

There are many responsibilities that this committee will immediately be taking on. One, to send representatives to the Birding Conservation Network (BCN) quarterly meetings; BCN is a Chicago area coalition focused on conserving Chicagoland birds. Two, to communicate Illinois bird conservation issues to members via email and regular contributions to the IOS website. Three, to evaluate issues and develop IOS’s stance on these issues, especially when issues might be particularly complicated.

Our aim is to focus on few issues with greater potential impact, this overarching strategy will allow us to concentrate on issues that will be both actionable for members and high impact for bird conservation. In addition to rallying support around actionable issues, we intend to follow up on and communicate outcomes from past conservation actions to keep members feeling up-to-date and informed. We believe meaningful and actionable notification of conservation issues to members will make a difference within the state and community overall.

Please consider reaching out to us if you have any interest in Illinois bird conservation and want to help guide this committee.

Thank you,

Matt Igleski

Save Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, Texas!

If you haven’t already heard, there is talk of building a wall along the entire US-Mexico border. Without going into all the political and logistical minutia, the big takeaway is that the wall cannot go on the border itself and will actually be several feet to miles into the US from the border. Due to the placement of the potential wall, many areas will be trapped in a “no-man’s land” and one of these areas includes the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas. All the experts agree that this will be devastating to wildlife and will further fragment habitat vital to many birds in the region, many of which aren’t readily found anywhere else in the US, and other animals such as the Ocelot—only found in the US in south Texas. Access for birders is still unclear, there may well be a way to access the area after the wall is built, but nothing has been confirmed and no one will be holding their breaths even if promises are made.

Alright, so we recognize that this is not an Illinois conservation issue per se, however it does have the potential to impact migratory birds traveling through this area. And it has the potential to impact Illinois birders looking to explore an exciting part of the country for birding. It is undoubtedly one of the most important bird conservation issues we are currently facing in the US. However, it is also an issue that all of us can take action on today!

As Congress continues to debate the 2018 budget there are ongoing attempts to attach money for Trump’s border wall. Construction in Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is poised to begin as soon as money is allocated! You can help by calling your members of Congress today and tell them no money for walls! Call the Senate switchboard, 202-224-3121, and read the script below. You’ll have to call it twice to leave a message for both Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin. Calls are the preferred mode of communication as it’s been shown that it is more effective than letters or emails, and brings immediate attention to the issue.

Green Parrots, Rio Grande Valley Texas (Photo: Matt Igleski)

Example script:

“Hello, I am a constituent and I am calling to ask _____________ to oppose all money for border walls. The Trump administration has already announced that the first border walls they would build will slice through the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. This is a refuge that is so biodiverse that it is called the “Crown Jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System.” I ask that _________ protect this jewel for its wildlife and for future generations of Americans by voting down ALL funding for border walls.”

Follow the latest news at the Save Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge facebook page.

Thank you!

IOS Conservation Committee