Great Kiskadee in Illinois is a first state record

Second sighting in Channahon comes after disappearing act

A Great Kiskadee near Channahon, Ill. Photo by Steve Huggins.

A one-day wonder turned out to be much more than that.

A Great Kiskadee—the first recorded in Illinois—spent much of this week near Southwest Suburban Channahon. It was first seen on Tuesday by John Weisberger. But intrepid big-year birders (are there any other kind?) Nathan Goldberg and Steve Huggins didn’t stop looking for the brightly hued flycatcher and finally found it again on Saturday.

The news drew observers from all over the region to see a species whose nearest population is in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and is widespread in Central and South America.

The noisy flycatcher has been hanging around a site called the “Des Plaines Wide Waters,” near where the DuPage River meets the Des Plaines River southwest of Joliet.

Goldberg, who just set the Illinois record for species in a year, had a feeling the bird might still be around since other vagrant kiskadees have stayed in place for at least a few weeks.

The kiskadee was still being seen as recently as today.

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