34 ILLINOIS AUDUBON BULLETIN 
y NOE 
VERNON M. KLEEN 
BREEDING SEASON 
The most important season for wildlife is the Breeding Season. During this time of year 
all species reproduce and multiply to assure the continued survival of their kinds. Nature 
has evolved each species to fill the various niches so that entire ecosystems may function 
smoothly; when natural species disappear from those systems for one reason or another, the 
systems will never again be the same. Breeding bio!»gy plays an important role and helps to 
keep nature in balance. 
For many birders, the breeding season tends to be the dullest season of all — that is 
unfortunate. There is no other season where birders can contribute so much for conserva- 
tion; the birders who truly are concerned about conservation are the ones who participate in 
the various breeding season surveys and programs. Granted, the breeding season does not 
provide the action most birders seek, but it does provide the most productive and useable 
information. 
It is during the breeding season that we must determine the quality, quantity and 
location of available habitat for all of the breeding species (nearly 150 in Illinois) and the 
abundance and distribution of each of these species; we must also monitor their populations 
and draw statewide attention to critical habitats when they are being threatened or 
destroyed. The breeding season is very important even for migrating birds; if nesting 
habitat disappeared from the more northern states or Canada, the species that only migrate 
through Illinois would also disappear; therefore, everything depends on habitat and the 
breeding season. 
If your primary interest is in identifying as many birds as you can, you should 
appreciate the efforts of those who participate in the breeding season programs and 
activities because those persons are the ones interested in conserving the habitat so that the 
birds will still be there for others to see. Every part of Illinois has changed and will continue 
to be changed (usually for the worse) unless we do something about it; however, before any 
actions can be taken, we must know what occurs where and in what abundance. If we can 
legitimately attach the words threatened or endangered to a species or population in a given 
area, we can delay or possibly (rarely) eliminate proposed destruction of habitats — but 
why must we always wait until a species has about disappeared before we can save its 
habitat? 
Breeding Season activities this year included: the regular U.S. Fish & Wildlife 
Service’s Breeding Bird Surveys — it is possible that 55 of the 64 routes in Illinois were 
surveyed in 1976 (previous high was 53 in 1973) and the total species per route ranged from 
about 40 to 70; the Nest Record Card Program — there were approximately 800 cards 
submitted (total results and report forthcoming; write for details); the Colonial Bird 
Register program; the Breeding Bird Atlas and the Mid-June Birding Challenge. 
The Colonial Bird Register was a new program designed by Cornell University to 
provide useful information: 
—leading to an improved ability to follow and predict population changes among 
colonial species, 
