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2025 Birding Checklist

This list is a selection drawn from the approximately 150 birds in my ornithology class, divided into two sections: high-priority birds which I will actively seek out, and a more general checklist of birds I would especially like to see this year. I will probably update this last as the year goes on, as I might have the opportunity to visit some other countries and states this year, and will want to choose some specific targets for those trips; we're also still learning to identify more birds as the class goes on.

    High-Priority Checklist
  1. Green-Winged Teal [Seen! 05 March]
  2. Bufflehead [Seen! 05 March]
  3. Common Nighthawk - very common throughout town, in parks.
  4. Green Heron - common in wetland and riparian areas in town
  5. Great Horned Owl - at least one individual frequenting Meadowbrook at dusk.
  6. Cooper's Hawk [Seen! 11 March]
  7. Northern Flicker [Seen! 17 March]
  8. Purple Martin - purple martins arrive at the robert c porter park in Champaign by April.
  9. Carolina Wren [Seen! 08 March]
  10. Wood Thrush - fond of busey woods; arrive in late April.
  11. Eastern Meadowlark [Seen! 14 March]
  12. Indigo Bunting - common in preserves and park in late April.
    Other birds I'd like to see:
    Accipitriformes (diurnal birds of prey)
  1. American Kestrel - one apparently frequently visiting Windsor and First, Champaign
  2. Northern Harrier [Seen! 10 March]
  3. Osprey - infrequent in town; maybe Allerton Park
    Anseriformes (waterfowl)
  4. Common Goldeneye
  5. Common Merganser
  6. Hooded Merganswer
  7. Wood Duck [Seen! 10 March]
  8. Ruddy Duck
    Charadriiformes (shorebirds)
  9. American Golden Plover
  10. Black Tern
  11. Black-bellied Plover
  12. Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs
  13. Lesser Sandpiper
  14. Pectoral Sandpiper
  15. Piping Plover
  16. Semipalmated Plover
  17. Spotted Sandpiper
    Cuculiformes (cuckoos)
  18. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
    Galliformes (landfowl)
  19. Bobwhite
    Gaviiformes (loons)
  20. Common Loon
    Gruiformes (rails)
  21. Sora
    Passeriformes (songbirds) (alphabetized internally by family)
  22. Horned Lark
  23. Cedar Waxwing
  24. Scarlet Tanager
  25. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  26. Bank Swallow
  27. Barn Swallow
  28. Tree Swallow
  29. Baltimore Oriole
  30. Brown Thrasher
  31. Grey Catbird
  32. Northern Mockingbird
  33. Black-and-White Warbler
  34. Magnolia Warbler
  35. Prothonotary Warbler
  36. American Tree Sparrow
  37. Eastern Towhee
  38. Chipping Sparrow
  39. Field Sparrow [Seen! 24 March]
  40. Fox Sparrow
  41. Lincoln's Sparrow
  42. Savannah Sparrow
  43. Song Sparrow [Seen! 08 March]
  44. Swamp Sparrow
  45. Vesper Sparrow
  46. White-crowned Sparrow
  47. Eastern Phoebe [Seen! 24 march]
  48. Yellow-throated Vireo
    Pelicaniformes (herons; large waterbirds)
  49. American White Pelican
  50. Black-crowned Night Heron
  51. Great Egret
  52. Least Bittern
    Piciformes (woodpeckers)
  53. Pileated Woodpecker [Seen! 10 March]
    Podicepediformes (grebes)
  54. Pied-billed Grebe [Seen! 31 March]
    Sulliformes (cormorants; large waterbirds)
  55. Double-Crested Cormorant