Introducing the Grasshopper Sparrow Journals

A look into my nature journal documenting the breeding birds at Park 566

Dec 15, 2024

This year my good friend

and I decided to change our approach to birding Park 566 in order to pay closer attention to the activities of individual birds, specifically Grasshopper Sparrows. Park 566 is unique in so many ways, but especially because it’s the only site within the city of Chicago where you can find Grasshopper Sparrows breeding—that’s pretty wonderful considering this species is listed as a Level 2 Bird of Concern in the Chicago Wilderness Area. The Bird Conservation Network gives the Bird of Concern designation to species needing priority attention and management. A Level 2 Bird of Concern is a:

species experiencing moderate to strong declines and/or threats to breeding. Management or other actions needed to stabilize/increase populations or reverse threats.

While Dan has been keeping pretty extensive records on the goings on at Park 566 since 2017, in 2024 we changed our approach to include logging specific sites within the park where we found Grasshopper Sparrows, as well as watching individuals closely (sometimes for hours) to observe their behaviors, song patterns, and see if we could determine who comprised the breeding pairs as well as which successfully raised broods. I documented what we found in the pages of my nature journal while Dan recorded his own detailed notes.

A Grasshopper Sparrow perched on Canada Thistle at Park 566.

In this section of My Favorite Bird I’ll be sharing my nature journal pages, as well as a selection of the photos, video, and audio that I collected on those days. These posts will be heavy on photos, video, and audio and light on writing, aside from what written on the pages of my nature journal. I didn’t always carry my camera with me and sometimes carried my spotting scope—the scope had an unfortunate mishap midseason which I’ll discuss in a future issue.

I hope you enjoy this section of the newsletter as much as I enjoy reliving those memories through the lens of my nature journal.

I will be continuing this project in 2025 as big development just south of this park has the potential to impact all the birds that live there, including our beloved Grasshopper Sparrows.

Photo gallery featuring many of the birds referenced in the pages above

Photos from 5.11.24 including a young Northern Harrier, Golden-winged Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Field Sparrow (nest building), Clay Colored Sparrows, and a singing Swamp Sparrow

Here’s a clip of a Swamp Sparrow singing from that day (they have the musical trill that starts at 0:04) along with a Red-winged Blackbird.

1×

0:00

-0:22

In the video below you can hear the Sustained Song of the Grasshopper Sparrow (it starts around 0:07 and is very high pitched). This is one of two song types male Grasshoppers sing and it’s a lot more musical and variable than their other song type. The Sustained Song is thought to function in mate attraction and maintaining pair bonds during breeding season. I hadn’t realized we’d heard it this early in the season until I was going back through my videos and audio from this day.

Thanks for taking this journey through a day in early May 2024 at Park 566 with me.

Love Letters to Birds

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