Special Birds of Illinois - Page 3

The diversity of birds seen in Illinois can be attributed to its ideal location: the northern tier and Chicago lakefront host wintering Snowy Owls and migrating songbirds, the prairies of the central part of the state have threatened grassland species (including Greater Prairie-Chicken), and the Shawnee highlands of the south have an avifauna more reminiscent of the Deep South, with birds like Mississippi Kite and Prothonotary Warblers. Southwestern Illinois, along with eastern Missouri and southeastern Iowa, is also the stronghold of the introduced Eurasian Tree Sparrow in the United States.