A bald eagle is pictured in a file photo. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

The Forest Preserve District of Will County confirmed a second pair of eagles are incubating eggs in a newly-built, enormous nest.

Eaglet heads poke above the top of their nest in 2023. Fingers crossed for a repeat in 2024. (Will County Forest Preserve / Chad Merda)

All signs are pointing to another successful year of bald eagle mating in Will County.

Sandhill cranes. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region)

Red-winged blackbirds, American robins, and sandhill cranes are among the species of birds Chicagoans have spotted in recent days on the leading edge of spring migration. But wait — according to the calendar, it’s still winter.

A memorial for Monty and Rose, held in 2022, at the site now named in their honor. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

The Park District Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to rename the plovers’ Montrose Beach meeting spot the Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat.

The Field Museum’s rare copy of John J. Audubon’s “Birds of America” is now on public view. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

The Field Museum’s rare copy of John J. Audubon’s “Birds of America” is now on public display, as part of an exhibit that doesn’t shy away from Audubon’s complicated legacy.

(Courtesy Illinois Tourism Office)

Illinois boasts the largest population of wintering bald eagles outside of Alaska. They’re attracted to our not-quite-frozen waterways.

Golden-winged warbler. (Alan Schmierer / Flickr Creative Commons)

Celebrate the golden-winged warbler while it’s still around. It’s suffered one of the steepest population declines of any songbird in the last half century.

Top left: Mayor Brandon Johnson takes “Chicago Tonight” co-host Brandis Friedman around the Austin community on April 13, 2023. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) Top right: The state Capitol. (WTTW News) Bottom left: Field Museum staff collected 1,000 dead birds Oct. 5, 2023, from the grounds of McCormick Place. (Courtesy of Taylor Hains) Bottom right: File photo of guns. (WTTW News)
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Chicago elected a new mayor, Illinois banned so-called assault weapons and the Boss played at Wrigley Field. Here’s what people were reading in 2023.

(Carl James / Pixabay)

This year, don't head to your Thanksgiving gathering empty-handed. Take these wild turkey fun facts with you, and use them to fill awkward silences.

Whooping cranes are known for their snowy white plumage, red caps and bugling call. Seen here in South Dakota. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain-Pacific Region / Flickr Creative Commons)

Fewer than 100 whooping cranes migrate through the eastern U.S. A family of three paid a visit to a Kane County forest preserve Nov. 9-10 while winging their way to Florida.

The crow-sized Cooper’s hawk has been called a “flying cross,” with its long tail and short wings. None of those traits is reflected in the bird’s eponymous name. (Courtesy of Walter Kitundu)

North America’s eponymous birds — those named for people — will all receive new names. The decision made by the American Ornithological Society has drawn praise from some quarters and provoked vehement opposition elsewhere.

McCormick Place Lakeside Center's walls of glass and location on the lakefront are a deadly combination for birds. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Monday’s meeting of the McPier board was dominated by discussion of the mass death of 1,000 birds in a single day, killed after colliding with McCormick Place. Bird conservationists want a solution in place by spring migration.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completed restoration project was held on Oct. 23, 2023. (Nicole Cardos / WTTW News)

A major effort to restore nearly 200 acres of wetland habitat at Powderhorn Prairie and Marsh Nature Preserve on the Chicago’s Southeast Side is now complete after more than three years.

(Courtesy of the Field Museum)

The Chicago organization is joined by chapters in Detroit and Wisconsin in dropping “Audubon” and adopting the more inclusive, collaborative “Alliance.”

From a distance, 1229 West Concord in Lincoln Yards looks like every other glass tower in Chicago. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
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Sterling Bay’s first completed structure at its $6 billion Lincoln Yards riverfront development was constructed with bird-friendly glass. The use of the material is one of several features intended to minimize the sorts of deadly bird collisions Chicago just witnessed in record numbers.

A team at the Field Museum processes birds killed in collisions with McCormick Place during a massive migratory wave Oct. 4-5, 2023. (Daryl Coldren / Field Museum)

While the full tally of dead will never be known, wildlife advocates are certain of one thing: The vast majority of bird losses in the past week were preventable.