Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge 1661 West JPG Niblo Road Madison, in 47250 812/273 0783 Big Oaks
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge 1661 West JPG Niblo Road Madison, IN 47250 812/273 0783 Big Oaks TTY users may reach Big Oaks through National Wildlife Refuge the Federal Information Relay System at 1-800/877 8339 Bird Checklist http:www.fws.gov/midwest/bigoaks U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 1 1 800/344 WILD www.fws.gov Blue Grosbeak, ©Ron Austing Printed February 2012 “I came to Big Oaks to see the Henslow’s Sparrow and add it to my life list. I knew it was here because Big Oaks is a Globally Important Bird Area, since so many Henslow’s nest here.” Henslow’s Sparrow, ©Ron Austing Welcome to Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge! Established in 2000, Big Oaks National are listed as a species of special Wildlife Refuge is approximately management concern for the Fish 50,000 acres of diverse habitat. There and Wildlife Service. These included are over 6,000 acres of wetlands, the red-headed woodpecker, northern large blocks of forest habitat and vast flicker, acadian flycatcher, wood grasslands. Each of these unique areas thrush, blue-winged warbler, prairie is ideal habitat for a variety of birds. warbler, cerulean warbler, Kentucky For example, cerulean warblers may be warbler, field sparrow, grasshopper found nesting in the tops of the tallest sparrow, Henslow’s sparrow, eastern trees; Henslow’s sparrows will be seen meadowlark, and orchard oriole. singing in the grasslands and wood Yellow-throated ducks are often spotted paddling in the Hooded Species names and order are in Warbler, Merganser, ©Ron Austing ponded areas of the wetlands. accordance with the most recent ©Ron Austing American Ornithologists Union With over 120 species of birds nesting Checklist as amended. at Big Oaks and 200+ species of birds migrating through the refuge, Tools for Birding the opportunity to see a number of For your convenience, binoculars and birds is great. In addition to bird bird field guides are available for check watching on public use days, the out at the refuge office. refuge offers birding during several organized trips and participates in the This list was compiled with the help National Audubon Society’s annual of the refuge staff and members of Northern Parula, Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Golden the Big Oaks Conservation Society. ©Ron Austing eagles, bald eagles, short-eared Big Oaks offers special thanks to owls, and LeConte’s sparrows have George Terlinden for overseeing the been highlights of previous counts. grant for the printing of the brochure, Birding groups are encouraged to Great Blue the purchase of the binoculars and schedule tours with the refuge office Heron, field guides, and his persistence and to enjoy specialized visits to different ©Ron Austing expertise in creating this list. habitats available on the refuge during migration or the summer breeding Seasons period. Sp .........Spring ...............March-May S ...........Summer ............June-August A breeding bird survey is conducted F ............Fall .....................September - November on the refuge periodically to sample W ..........Winter ...............December - February overall bird diversity. A total of 107 point counts are proportionately Relative Abundance distributed among major habitat types a.... abundant ........very numerous Scarlet Tanager, along routes of travel on the refuge. c .... common ..........likely to be seen or heard in suitable ©Ron Austing The road-side survey was chosen ................................habitat because of the prevalence of closed u.... uncommon ......present, but not certain to be seen areas (no access areas) throughout o.... occasional .......seen only a few times during a season the refuge. These routes are the r .... rare .................may be present, but not every year basis for long-term monitoring of *.... Indicates birds known to nest, or have nested, on the bird populations on Big Oaks NWR. ...... refuge The refuge has also monitored over 1,200 bird nests of 41 species during extensive research on grassland and forest bird breeding ecology. Several of the species observed Common Name Sp S F W Common Name Sp S F W Swans, Geese, & Ducks Bitterns & Herons Snow Goose ........................................ r American Bittern ............................. o o Ross’s Goose ....................................... r Least Bittern .................................... o o *Canada Goose ................................. c c c c *Great Blue Heron ........................... c c c u Mute Swan .......................................... r r Great Egret .......................................u o u Trumpeter Swan ................................ r Snowy Egret ..................................... r r r Tundra Swan ..................................... r r r Little Blue Heron ............................. r r r *Wood Duck ...................................... a a a c Cattle Egret ...................................... r r Gadwall ..............................................u u r *Green Heron ................................... c c u American Wigeon .............................u u o Black-crowned Night-Heron ......... r r r American Black Duck ......................u u o *Yellow-crowned Night-Heron .......u u u *Mallard............................................. c u c c *Blue-winged Teal ............................ c u c o Vultures, Hawks, & Falcons Northern Shoveler ...........................u u o *Black Vulture .................................. c c c o Northern Pintail ............................... o o r *Turkey Vulture ................................ c c c o Green-winged Teal ...........................u c u Osprey ................................................u u Ring-necked Duck ............................ c c u Bald Eagle ......................................... o o o o Greater Scaup ................................... o o u *Northern Harrier ...........................u r c c Lesser Scaup ..................................... o o u *Sharp-shinned Hawk .....................u u u u Long-tailed Duck ............................... r *Cooper’s Hawk ...............................u u u u Bufflehead .........................................u u u Northern Goshawk ........................... r r r Common Goldeneye ......................... o o o *Red-shouldered Hawk ................... c c c c *Hooded Merganser ........................u o c o Broad-winged Hawk ........................ o r o Common Merganser ........................ o o o *Red-tailed Hawk ............................. c c c c Red-breasted Merganser ................ o o Rough-legged Hawk ......................... u Ruddy Duck ......................................u u o Golden Eagle ..................................... o o o *American Kestrel ........................... c c c c Grouse, Quail, & Turkey Merlin ................................................. o o r *Northern Bobwhite ........................ c c c c Peregrine Falcon............................... o o o Ring-necked Pheasant ..................... r r r r *Ruffed Grouse .................................u u u u Rails & Coots *Wild Turkey ..................................... c c c c Yellow Rail ......................................... r r Black Rail .......................................... r r r Loons *King Rail .......................................... r r r Common Loon ................................... o r o o Virginia Rail ......................................u u *Sora ..................................................u u u Grebes American Coot ..................................u o u *Pied-billed Grebe ............................ c u c o Horned Grebe ................................... o o Cranes Sandhill Crane .................................. r r r Cormorants Double-crested Cormorant ............. c o c r Plovers & Sandpipers *Killdeer ............................................ c c c o Spotted Sandpiper ............................u o u Solitary Sandpiper ...........................u u Greater Yellowlegs ...........................u u Lesser Yellowlegs .............................u u Marbled Godwit ................................ r r Dunlin ................................................ r r Common Snipe ..................................u u *American Woodcock ....................... c u u o Northern Harrier, ©Ron Austing Sp S F W Common Name Sp S F W Gulls & Terns Ring-billed Gull .................................. r Pigeons & Doves *Rock Pigeon .................................... o o o o *Mourning Dove ............................... c c c c Cuckoos *Yellow-billed Cuckoo ......................u c c *Black-billed Cuckoo .......................u u u Owls Barn Owl ............................................ r r r r *Eastern Screech-Owl ..................... c c c c *Great Horned Owl .......................... c c c c *Barred Owl ...................................... c c c c Long-eared Owl ................................ o o *Short-eared Owl ............................. o r r o Northern Saw-whet Owl .................. r u o Goatsuckers *Common Nighthawk ......................u o u *Chuck-will’s-widow ......................... r r *Whip-poor-will ................................u c u Swifts *Chimney Swift ................................ c c c Hummingbirds *Ruby-throated Hummingbird....... c c c Kingfishers *Belted Kingfisher ........................... c c c u Woodpeckers *Red-headed Woodpecker ............... c c c c *Red-bellied Woodpecker ................ c c c c Yellow-bellied Sapsucker .................u u u *Downy Woodpecker