Wisconsin can be a birder’s paradise! Like anywhere, you just need to know where (and when) to go. So, if you live in Wisonsin or have a trip planned to visit, check out these resources to make the birdy most of it! It’s important to note that Wisconsin’s state bird is the American Robin! To plan your next trip, or your next walk, a great first place to visit is the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology’s
web page. On this site you can access current and archived Rare Bird Alerts, birding news and events, and find many volunteer program links. It is not a good resource for finding birding spots, though.
Wisonline provides a simple list of birding spots, but it’s far from ideal if you don’t know where these areas are in relation to yourself! One interesting resource provides drive-in birding locations across the state, visit Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail. The only bird checklist I could find on the web is located here: dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/publications/gwbnt/checklist.pdf. If you’re in the northeast portion of the state, you should visit the Northeast Wisconsin Birding Club, mostly because they have tons of events listed. If your city is lucky enough to have registered with Bird City Wisconsin, you will be able to find some birding spots there!
Wisconsonites love their birds! Wisconsin has 16 Audubon Society chapters, and they can all be linked to from the main page (wisconsinaudubon.org). A Sand County Almanac is a must-read for any aspiring naturalist, and was written by Aldo Leopold in the named county in Wisconsin. Appropriately, the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society now fosters birders in central Wisconsin. Their website offers a lot of information and is only slightly annoying because each page on the site has a different, and disjointed, look. The Madison Audubon Society is a great place for anyone near Madison to visit (Want something specific? The Chequamegon Bay Birding Festival takes place on May 20-22, 2011. The festival features field trips, guest speakers, and lots of activities. Last year’s festival created a list of 177 birds!
Wisconsin has 88 Important Bird Areas (IBA). This ensures that no matter where you are in the state, you are close to an area that is important to birds! Lauterman Lake holds one of the largest contiguous hardwood forests in the state, and is likely a source habitat for many species that prefer those forest types, such as Ovenbird. Quincy Bluff contains a unique assemblage of riparian sedge meadow areas and rock formations, and is considered a core area for oak savanna habitat in the state. The sedge meadows provide a staging area for Sandhill Cranes in the fall. The Blue Hills area encompasses important Cerulean Warbler habitat as well as many interesting glacial features such as hanging valleys and rock formations.
