In spring and fall, these tuxedoed birds will occupy larger bodies of water as they travel through southern Wisconsin during their migration. 

photo by Arlene Koziol

Purple Martins are one of our favorite species for quite a few reasons. They are beautiful, chatty, and acrobatic fliers.

Photo by Susan Foote-Martin

Turkey Vultures are large birds with wing spans up to six feet and bodies almost three feet long. Their most distinctive feature is their featherless red head similar to a turkey, from which they get their name.

photo via Pixabay

Slowly but surely, Madison is becoming a little safer for birds, thanks to the incredible volunteers of the Bird Collision Corps (BCC), coordinated by Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance.

USFWS Photo

In early June this year, I observed fascinating behavior of a pair of waxwings that flew into the mulberry when its fruits were developing but not yet ripe.

Photo by Gary Shackelford

The Reckless Wrens team's 24-hour count began on May 8 at 5 PM and ended at 4:59 PM on May 9, tallying 147 species.

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar

Floodplain prairies are adapted to periodic flooding—dormant prairie plants can survive when inundated in water. An avian visitor to the flooded prairies is the Osprey. 

photo by Arlene Koziol

I hear a repeated, melodious, elaborate song—a warble coming from the top of the aspen trees that surround a small pothole on the edge of a sedge meadow.

Photo by Gary Shackelford

The grasslands aren’t the only areas with bird activity in the spring. . . . [upcoming] restoration work will be focused on species of birds that inhabit the oak savanna.

Photo by Debbie Koenigs/USFWS

The Great Wisconsin Birdathon is run by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin to raise funds for bird conservation across the state. Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance’s team, the Flockadelics, participated on May 19. 

Photo by Matt Reetz/SoWBA

During the breeding season, in marshes populated with cattails and wet meadows full of tall grasses, cascading whinnies indicate the presence of an otherwise secretive little rail: the Sora.

photo by Mike Budd/USFWS

The Field Sparrow is one of four species of New World sparrows that have been documented nesting at Fair Meadows Sanctuary.

Photo by Gary Shackelford