With the click of a camera, Collin Porter highlights avian life on the Evanston campus. By Diana Babineau (Curator); Essay and photographs by Collin Porter
I’ve loved watching birds all my life. I grew up in central Pennsylvania with woodland wildlife in my backyard, and I had binoculars and field guides in my hands before I could even read. As a kid I joined my family on bird walks in the forest, memorizing the birdsongs I heard. Yet I didn’t consider myself a “birder” until I came to Northwestern.
Collin Porter; Credit: Shane Collins
The Evanston lakefront campus lies within one of the largest bird migration pathways in North America. Nearly 400 unique species have been documented within Cook County, Ill., which contains crucial patches of habitat for both resident and stopover birds. So when I got here, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to seek out such amazing avian diversity.
I started bringing my camera with me on early-morning birding expeditions around campus. I’d been doing portraiture and street photography for years and realized those skills could be translated to natural subjects. Uniting my interests truly paid off on a chilly October morning in 2023, when I spotted an unusually chunky brown-and-silver songbird foraging in the grass on the north end of campus. I quickly lined up a shot and posted the photo online.
Fellow birders confirmed it to be a gray-crowned rosy-finch — the second ever recorded in Illinois and the first seen in Cook County. This bird breeds high up in the Rockies and other Western mountain ranges and then winters at lower elevations. Discovering this bird right next to Lake Michigan — over 1,000 miles away from its typical range — was stunning.
After that extremely rare sighting, I went on bird walks almost every morning. Then, during my senior year, I set a goal: Record over 190 bird species at Northwestern before graduating. By the time I drove back home to Pennsylvania at the end of summer 2024, I had spotted 196 species on campus.
For me, birding has blossomed into so many things: a calming pastime, a way to appreciate the biodiversity around me and an avenue to grow as a photographer. It has been encouraging to see birding become more widespread too. Social media and online platforms such as eBird, which allows anyone to report bird sightings, help collectivize access to and enjoyment of wildlife, all while benefiting research and conservation efforts with something as simple as awareness.
As I prepare to pursue graduate studies in ecological and evolutionary research centered in ornithology, my goal is to widen that access. I share my photography not only to contribute to the scientific documentation of species but also to publicize my personal experiences with birds and the joy they bring. My hope is that you too will be inspired to go out and experience this joy for yourself — perhaps in your own backyard.
Collin Porter ’24, a birder, photographer and ecologist from Williamsport, Pa., studied environmental sciences and musicology at Northwestern. He was a trombonist in the Northwestern University “Wildcat” Marching Band.
“This immature Cooper’s hawk [pictured above and illustrated here] is likely one of several residing on campus. While they were seen nesting south of University Library in 2023, I observed nest-building behavior over the Marjorie Weinberg Garden in spring 2024, as American crows had seemingly taken over the previous nest. Despite sharp population declines decades ago, Cooper’s hawks are now one of the most successful predators in the area.” — Collin Porter
To join NU Birders on an upcoming bird walk, click here.
A well-known birding hot spot, Northwestern’s Evanston campus has been visited by more than 280 bird species. During the 2024 fall migration season alone, more than 95 million birds passed through Cook County, Ill.
CAPE MAY WARBLER
“While many migrating warblers are found high up in tree canopies, this one came within 3 feet of me while it searched a yew shrub for bugs. Many songbirds are brightly colored in the spring in order to attract mates. But come autumn, many shed their bright plumage, becoming drabber and more difficult to identify. When I spotted this one in the fall, it lacked the distinct rufous mask around the eyes that distinguishes breeding males in the spring.” — C.P.
HORNED GREBE
“This diving bird can be found during migration seasons on Lake Michigan and sometimes in Northwestern’s lagoon, where I photographed this one. While grebes, loons and ducks have similar swimming and diving habits, they actually are not closely related at all. The swimming-based orientation of grebes’ feet prevents them from traveling on land, meaning that they rely on bodies of water for rest during migration as well as breeding activity.” — C.P.
CASPIAN TERN
“While scanning Lake Michigan for migrating shorebirds, I spotted this tern hovering overhead within 30 feet of me, likely seeking small fish to strike with its elegant dive. While they are easy to find in the summer, I usually see them streaming past at high speed without stopping. It’s not as common to capture them poised to dive so close by.” — C.P.
SCARLET TANAGER
“Even on a very sunny day, this beautiful scarlet tanager quickly caught my eye among some of the low maples near Norris University Center. They’re fairly common migrants, but they often stay out of sight while they forage for insects in the high tree canopies. In the fall, these bright red adult males molt into a rich olive-yellow.” — C.P.
Birds help maintain the health of native habitats by spreading seeds and pollinating flowers.
Because birds are unable to see glass windows and are attracted to bright lights, bird collisions — when birds fly into buildings — are unfortunately common throughout Chicagoland during migration. Environmental activists recommend turning off lights between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., when birds are most often in flight. Window decals can help steer birds away from buildings as well. In 2018 Northwestern installed patterned decals on its Kellogg Global Hub, resulting in a 73% reduction in bird strikes that year. (Illustration: Getty Images)
Many birds fly south for the winter. But Illinois is south for species that breed in the Arctic, such as the snow bunting. Others, such as Cooper’s hawks and American kestrels, are year-round campus residents. As the seasons turn, some species also experience dramatic shifts in color. To attract mates, many migratory birds grow vibrant feathers in the spring, which requires a lot of energy. Come fall, they often shed their worn breeding plumage for a fresh (yet drabber) nonbreeding look.
AMERICAN KESTREL
“In the colder months I usually scan the lake for migrating waterfowl and gulls, but there are also several species that spend the entire winter on campus. I became pretty familiar with this male kestrel who almost always made an appearance nearby when I was birding on the Lakefill from November through April. The American kestrel is the smallest falcon in this area — only a little larger than an American robin — and primarily hunts over open spaces for small birds and insects.” — C.P.
SNOW BUNTING
“I came across a group of these cute songbirds on a snowy day at the north end of the Lakefill. Snow buntings are incredibly hardy, wintering in the northern United States and southern Canada. After breeding in the summer, they drop their purely black-and-white plumage for the adorable toasted marshmallow color seen here.” — C.P.
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER
“I first heard this bright orange male Blackburnian warbler singing in the trees just north of Deering and University libraries. After recording its vocalizations, I was able to spot it gleaning insects in the lower canopy. Many migratory songbirds like this one molt into more colorful breeding plumages before they start moving north in the spring. This male will molt into a duller plumage before heading south again in the fall.” — C.P.
Bright feathers signal that a bird may have had an easier, food-abundant winter — and therefore may be a better mate.
You don’t need fancy equipment or binoculars. Just open your eyes and ears. Tune in to the bird calls around you and try to locate where they’re coming from.
Download a birdsong identification app, such as Merlin Bird ID, to get more familiar with each bird’s unique songs and calls.
Borrow a field guide from a local library to study up on birds in your area. Northwestern’s University Library now offers birdwatching kits for checkout.
Find a local birdwatching group, such as NU Birders, which organizes free bird walks on campus.
Songbirds, such as sparrows, warblers and thrushes, have a special two-sided vocal organ called a syrinx, which allows them to produce two different notes at once. These birds use various songs and calls to attract mates, defend their territories and alert other birds about nearby predators. Some songbirds instinctively know their tunes from birth, while others are born babbling — much like human babies — and must learn their songs from other adults.
A 2022 research study in Nature showed that listening to birdsongs reduces anxiety, depression and paranoia.
HERMIT THRUSH
“I found this wintering hermit thrush — my favorite North American songbird — in the sunken garden south of Deering Library. Local thrushes, including the abundant American robin, are known for their beautiful, resonating songs. Though Cook County is generally considered north of their traditional wintering ranges, hermit thrushes seem to be becoming more common in this area in winter, a tangible sign of shifting ranges, likely attributable to climate change.” — C.P.
(Audio Recorded by Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay Library)
BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER
“I heard this male warbler’s song in the Marjorie Weinberg Garden, one of my favorite on-campus sites to find colorful and vocal warblers as they migrate through the area. In the spring, tracking down songbirds by ear requires some practice and patience but can lead to higher success than relying on sight alone. Seeing and hearing songbirds like this black-throated green warbler in the spring is always a welcome treat and a sure sign of the hundreds of millions of birds about to cross through the region as they head to northern breeding grounds.” — C.P.
(Audio Recorded by Glen Chapman / Macaulay Library)
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH
“This special bird has had a massive impact on my love for birding. After spotting it on the north end of campus on a chilly October morning and posting this photo online, Chicago-area bird-watchers quickly confirmed it to be the second gray-crowned rosy-finch ever recorded in Illinois — and the first seen in Cook County. This kickstarted my interest in researching bird migrations and habitats and also helped me meet a large portion of Chicago’s dedicated birding community.” — C.P.
Pretty darn rare! This map shows the gray-crowned rosy-finch’s typical range. Northwestern’s Evanston campus is over 1,000 miles away from the eastern-most part of its range.
(Range map courtesy of Cornell Lab / All About Birds.)
“Gray-crowned rosy-finches are known to breed at the highest elevations of almost any North American species, descending from Rocky Mountain peaks to surrounding lower elevations for the winter. Discovering this bird east of the Mississippi River and right next to Lake Michigan is a stellar example of ‘vagrancy’ — when birds stray from typical migratory pathways — something many birders hope for when seeking out rare species.” — C.P.
Diana Babineau is senior editor and writer in Northwestern’s Office of Global Marketing and Communications. An enthusiastic birder, she met Collin Porter when he led an early-morning NU Birders walk on the Evanston campus.
Porter’s work supports the University priority to be a leader in sustainability. See the priorities at northwestern.edu/priorities.
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Conservation scientist Becky Barak ’12 MS, ’17 PhD is exploring alternatives to conventional turf lawns. She shares her path to research and her passion for conservation and restoration.
In the summer, you can find Elsa Godtfredsen in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado scouting for bees and other pollinators, testing soil moisture levels, gathering seeds and carefully monitoring the health of local alpine wildflowers. A doctoral student in Northwestern’s plant biology and conservation program, she’s been running a multiyear experiment to see how early snowmelt (one sign of a warming planet) will affect wildflowers — and, by extension, the broader ecosystems upon which we all rely.
Reader Responses
Can't tell you how much i enjoyed "Birds of Northwestern." Thank you for sending it. Loved being able to imagine campus in my mind. Thank you for the well-paced, understandable writing too!
—Jill Adkins '84, Wesley Chapel, Fla., via Northwestern Magazine
If you haven’t read it already, Collin, check out “The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession” by Northwestern’s own Mark Obmascik '83.
—Mark Blackwell '83, '85 MBA, Chicago, via Northwestern Magazine
Loved this article. Calling attention to nature and to something we can only notice when we are still is so valuable. Thank you.
—Tammy McLeod '13 CERT, Phoenix, via Northwestern Magazine
I am not sure from the single photo, but I don't think this is a grey-crowned rosy finch but rather an equally rare black rosy finch. The three rosy finches are the grey-crowned, brown-capped and the black — all rarely seen in the area of Northwestern. They are common where I live in Aspen, Colo.
—Barry Mink '64, Aspen, Colo.
This was a fascinating article. I have often spotted an array of different birds on campus during walks, but I never knew just how many different species visit the area until reading Collin’s article. How do you join the NU Birders group as an alumni?
—Chelsea Brown '02, Evanston, via Northwestern Magazine
Hats off to Collin Porter. I loved his bird photos. National Geographic quality for sure. I too love trying to capture a bird or two — from my deck. Nowhere near his equipment, just a 35mm Nikon.
Thanks for sharing his work.
—Joyce Nielsen '98, Lakewood, Ill., via Northwestern Magazine
A superb article about a critically important activity! Forest bathing is often recommended as an effective stress-reduction therapy — much needed in our tumultuous times — but bird watching is even better, since it is more active than passive and often expands our collective knowledge about avian food sources, habitats, behavior repertoires and migration patterns. The truth is, you never really know what's out there, until you're out there, too. And then there are the realities that only birds can teach us. See, for example, Karen Solie's "Meadowlark" or A. E. Stallings' "Blackbird at Dawn" — two poems that only members of the avian kingdom could inspire.
—Jim Sanders '73 MA, '80 PhD, Elizabethtown, Pa., via Northwestern Magazine
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