Birdwatching Checklist Lake County Forest Preserves
Great blue heron
Red-winged blackbird
Red-bellied woodpecker
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Spottedsandpiper
Checklist Tips
This checklist includes hundreds of species found in Lake County, Illinois. Many are labeled with icons described below. Keep this checklist with you, and mark the birds you see and hear in Lake County.
Non-native
Uncommon or rare
Threatened or endangered
Nests in Lake County
DUCKS, GEESE & SWANS
{ American black duck
{ American wigeon
{ Blue-winged teal
{ Bufflehead
{ Cackling goose
{ Canada goose
{ Canvasback
{ Common goldeneye
{ Common merganser
{ Gadwall
{ Greater scaup
{ Greater whitefronted goose
{ Green-winged teal
{ Hooded merganser
{ Lesser scaup
{ Long-tailed duck
{ Mallard
{ Mute swan
{ Northern pintail
{ Northern shoveler
{ Red-breasted merganser
{ Redhead
{ Ring-necked duck
{ Ross’s goose
{ Ruddy duck
{ Snow goose
{ Surf scoter
{ Trumpeter swan
{ Tundra swan
{ White-winged scoter
{ Wood duck
PHEASANTS, TURKEYS & QUAILS
{ Northern bobwhite
{ Ring-necked pheasant
{ Wild turkey
GREBES
{ Eared grebe
{ Horned grebe
{ Pied-billed grebe
{ Red-necked grebe
DOVES & PIGEONS
{ Mourning dove
{ Rock pigeon
CUCKOOS
{ Black-billed cuckoo
{ Yellow-billed cuckoo
NIGHTHAWKS & NIGHTJARS
{ Common nighthawk
{ Eastern whippoor-will
SWIFT
{ Chimney swift
hummingbird
{ Ruby-throated hummingbird
RAILS, COOTS & GALLINULES
{ American coot
{ Common gallinule
{ King rail
{ Sora
{ Virginia rail
{ Sandhill crane
{ American avocet
{ Black-necked stilt
CRANE AVOCETS & STILTS PLOVERS
{ American golden plover
{ Black-bellied plover
{ Killdeer
{ Piping plover
{ Semipalmated plover
GODWITS, TURNSTONES, SANDPIPERS, DOWITCHERS, SNIPES, WOODCOCKS & PHALAROPES
{ American woodcock
{ Baird’s sandpiper
{ Buff-breasted sandpiper
{ Dunlin
{ Greater yellowlegs
{ Hudsonian godwit
{ Least sandpiper
{ Lesser yellowlegs
{ Long-billed dowitcher
{ Marbled godwit
{ Pectoral sandpiper
{ Purple sandpiper
{ Red knot
{ Red phalarope
{ Red-necked phalarope
{ Ruddy turnstone
{ Sanderling
{ Semipalmated sandpiper
{ Short-billed dowitcher
{ Solitary sandpiper
{ Spotted sandpiper
{ Stilt sandpiper
{ Upland sandpiper
{ Western sandpiper
{ White-rumped sandpiper
{ Willet
{ Wilson’s phalarope
{ Wilson’s snipe
Common names current as of February 6, 2026 are listed here.
Tundra swan
{ Olive-sided flycatcher
{ Scissor-tailed flycatcher
{ American herring gull
{ Bonaparte’s gull
{ Caspian tern
{ Common tern
{ Forster’s tern
{ Franklin’s gull
{ Glaucous gull
{ Glaucous-winged gull
{ Great black-backed gull
{ Iceland gull
{ Laughing gull
{ Lesser black-backed gull
{ Ring-billed gull
LOONS
{ Common loon
{ Red-throated loon
CORMORANT
{ Double-crested cormorant
{ American goshawk
{ Bald eagle
{ Broad-winged hawk
{ Cooper’s hawk
{ Golden eagle
{ Northern harrier
{ Red-shouldered hawk
{ Red-tailed hawk
{ Rough-legged hawk
{ Sharp-shinned hawk
{ Swainson’s hawk
OWLS
{ Barred owl
{ Eastern screech owl
{ Great horned owl
{ Long-eared owl
{ Northern saw-whet owl
{ Short-eared owl
{ Snowy owl
KINGFISHER
{ American white pelican
PELICAN BITTERNS, EGRETS & HERONS
{ American bittern
{ Black-crowned night heron
{ Great blue heron
{ Great egret
{ Green heron
{ Least bittern
VULTURE
{ Turkey vulture
OSPREY
{ Osprey
For comprehensive local guidance, check out our Birdwatching Guide in English and Spanish: LCFPD.org/birds
Bird illustrations © Samantha Gallagher. Writing and design by Environmental Communications Specialist Brett Peto.
{ Belted kingfisher
WOODPECKERS
{ Downy woodpecker
{ Hairy woodpecker
{ Northern flicker
{ Pileated woodpecker
{ Red-bellied woodpecker
{ Red-headed woodpecker
{ Yellow-bellied sapsucker
FALCONS
{ American kestrel
{ Merlin
{ Peregrine falcon
FLYCATCHERS
{ Acadian flycatcher
{ Alder flycatcher
{ Eastern kingbird
{ Eastern phoebe
{ Eastern wood-pewee
{ Great crested flycatcher
{ Least flycatcher
{ Willow flycatcher
{ Yellow-bellied flycatcher
shrikes
{ Loggerhead shrike
{ Northern shrike
VIREOS
{ Bell’s vireo
{ Blue-headed vireo
{ Philadelphia vireo
{ Red-eyed vireo
{ Warbling vireo
{ White-eyed vireo
{ Yellow-throated vireo
JAYS & CROWS
{ American crow
{ Blue jay
LARK
{ Horned lark
SWALLOWS
{ Bank swallow
{ Barn swallow
{ Cliff swallow
{ Northern roughwinged swallow
{ Purple martin
{ Tree swallow
{ Black-capped chickadee
{ Tufted titmouse
CHICKADEES & TITMICE NUTHATCHES
{ Red-breasted nuthatch
{ White-breasted nuthatch
CREEPER
{ Brown creeper
{ Red crossbill
{ Redpoll
{ Carolina wren
{ Marsh wren
{ Northern house wren
{ Sedge wren
{ Winter wren
KINGLETS & GNATCATCHERS
{ Blue-gray gnatcatcher
{ Golden-crowned kinglet
{ Ruby-crowned kinglet
BLUEBIRDS & THRUSHES
{ American robin
{ Eastern bluebird
{ Gray-cheeked thrush
{ Hermit thrush
{ Swainson’s thrush
{ Veery
{ Wood thrush
CATBIRDS, MOCKINGBIRDS &
{ Brown thrasher
{ Gray catbird
{ Northern mockingbird
{ European starling
{ Cedar waxwing
{ House sparrow
{ American pipit
{ American redstart
{ American goldfinch
{ European goldfinch
{ Evening grosbeak
{ House finch
{ Pine siskin
{ Purple finch
{ White-winged crossbill
LONGSPURS & OLD WORLD BUNTINGS
{ Lapland longspur
{ Snow bunting
NEW WORLD SPARROWS, JUNCOS & TOWHEES
{ American tree sparrow
{ Chipping sparrow
{ Clay-colored sparrow
{ Dark-eyed junco
{ Eastern towhee
{ Field sparrow
{ Fox sparrow
{ Grasshopper sparrow
{ Harris’s sparrow
{ Henslow’s sparrow
{ Lark sparrow
{ LeConte’s sparrow
{ Lincoln’s sparrow
{ Nelson’s sparrow
{ Savannah sparrow
{ Song sparrow
{ Swamp sparrow
{ Vesper sparrow
{ White-crowned sparrow
{ White-throated sparrow
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
{ Yellow-breasted chat
BLACKBIRDS,
BOBOLINKS,
MEADOWLARKS, GRACKLES, COWBIRDS & ORIOLES
{ Baltimore oriole
{ Bobolink
{ Brewer’s blackbird
{ Brown-headed cowbird
{ Common grackle
{ Eastern meadowlark
{ Orchard oriole
{ Red-winged blackbird
{ Rusty blackbird
{ Yellow-headed blackbird
{ Bay-breasted warbler
{ Black-and-white warbler
{ Blackburnian warbler
{ Blackpoll warbler
{ Black-throated blue warbler
{ Black-throated green warbler
{ Blue-winged warbler
{ Canada warbler
{ Cape May warbler
{ Cerulean warbler
{ Chestnut-sided warbler
{ Common yellowthroat
{ Connecticut warbler
{ Golden-winged warbler
{ Hooded warbler
{ Kentucky warbler
{ Louisiana waterthrush
{ Magnolia warbler
{ Mourning warbler
{ Nashville warbler
{ Northern parula
{ Northern waterthrush
{ Orange-crowned warbler
{ Ovenbird
{ Palm warbler
{ Pine warbler
{ Prairie warbler
{ Prothonotary warbler
{ Tennessee warbler
{ Wilson’s warbler
{ Worm-eating warbler
{ Yellow warbler
{ Yellow-rumped warbler
{ Yellow-throated warbler
CARDINALS, GROSBEAKS, BUNTINGS & TANAGERS
{ Blue grosbeak
{ Dickcissel
{ Indigo bunting
{ Northern cardinal
{ Rose-breasted grosbeak
{ Scarlet tanager
{ Summer tanager