Mississippi Kite in Evanston!

We do a lot of leading of free field trips for local birding clubs in the Chicago area, especially during spring and fall migration. On this morning’s weekly Perkins Woods walk that Josh Engel and John Bates were leading for the Evanston North Shore Bird Club, we found a Mississippi Kite! It was first spotted by long-time Red Hill Birding client and friend Libby Hill and was seen by all 30 or so participants on the trip. There are only a handful of prior records for Cook County and this is the first record for Perkins Woods and for Evanston. This is by far the rarest bird Josh has seen in Perkins Woods after birding there regularly for 25 years. (The second rarest is Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, which was also found on a Thursday morning Evanston North Shore Bird Club field trip.) You can see the full list from this morning’s field trip here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56651730

Mississippi Kite at Perkins Woods in Evanston.

Mississippi Kite at Perkins Woods in Evanston.

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