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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
- Green-Winged Teal [Seen! 05 March]
- Bufflehead [Seen! 05 March]
- Common Nighthawk - very common throughout town, in parks.
- Green Heron - common in wetland and riparian areas in town
- Great Horned Owl - at least one individual frequenting Meadowbrook at dusk.
- Cooper's Hawk [Seen! 11 March]
- Northern Flicker [Seen! 17 March]
- Purple Martin - purple martins arrive at the robert c porter park in Champaign by April.
- Carolina Wren [Seen! 08 March]
- Wood Thrush - fond of busey woods; arrive in late April.
- Eastern Meadowlark [Seen! 14 March]
- Indigo Bunting - common in preserves and park in late April.
Other birds I'd like to see:
Accipitriformes (diurnal birds of prey)
- American Kestrel - one apparently frequently visiting Windsor and First, Champaign
- Northern Harrier [Seen! 10 March]
- Osprey - infrequent in town; maybe Allerton Park
Anseriformes (waterfowl)
- Common Goldeneye
- Common Merganser
- Hooded Merganswer
- Wood Duck [Seen! 10 March]
- Ruddy Duck
Charadriiformes (shorebirds)
- American Golden Plover
- Black Tern
- Black-bellied Plover
- Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Sandpiper
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Piping Plover
- Semipalmated Plover
- Spotted Sandpiper
Cuculiformes (cuckoos)
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Galliformes (landfowl)
- Bobwhite
Gaviiformes (loons)
- Common Loon
Gruiformes (rails)
- Sora
Passeriformes (songbirds) (alphabetized internally by family)
- Horned Lark
- Cedar Waxwing
- Scarlet Tanager
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Bank Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Tree Swallow
- Baltimore Oriole
- Brown Thrasher
- Grey Catbird
- Northern Mockingbird
- Black-and-White Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Prothonotary Warbler
- American Tree Sparrow
- Eastern Towhee
- Chipping Sparrow
- Field Sparrow [Seen! 24 March]
- Fox Sparrow
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Song Sparrow [Seen! 08 March]
- Swamp Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Eastern Phoebe [Seen! 24 march]
- Yellow-throated Vireo
Pelicaniformes (herons; large waterbirds)
- American White Pelican
- Black-crowned Night Heron
- Great Egret
- Least Bittern
Piciformes (woodpeckers)
- Pileated Woodpecker [Seen! 10 March]
Podicepediformes (grebes)
- Pied-billed Grebe [Seen! 31 March]
Sulliformes (cormorants; large waterbirds)
- Double-Crested Cormorant