The 12 best TWiB posts of 2024

Piping Plovers, Loggerhead Shrikes, and Clay-colored Sparrows

A new mural at Chicago’s Uptown Library honored Piping Plovers—and migration.

The past year was a banner year for the endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover—both regionally and locally. Two pairs of the shorebirds nested successfully on Illinois’ Lake Michigan shores, which would have been unthinkable even five years ago.

But a ceremony at Uptown Library in April is something that has really stuck with me. Uptown’s long been one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Chicago, and that was underscored by the group of people who came from all corners of the city for a mural dedication. The artwork served as a tribute to the neighborhood Piping Plovers Monty and Rose—and to migration more broadly, including human migration. Was there anyone in 2024 celebrating immigration? There were on April 20 in Uptown, which welcomed migrants to a new shelter in recent years.

Considering that everyone in the U.S. is an immigrant—save for Native Americans—maybe we should start celebrating immigration more frequently in the future.

Top five posts (by views)

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Seven other favorite posts

These posts weren’t viewed as much, but in my opinion, they’re worth re-visiting. This one from August 12 was one of my favorites, looking for some of the last breeding Clay-colored Sparrows in the state (“Sparrow search is an early Christmas present”).

Here are the best of the rest:

March 11, “A return visit to Bell Bowl Prairie”

May 13, “Assessing my spring migration predictions”

June 3, “Humans at loggerheads (with shrikes) again”

September 9, “The Niagara Escarpment really is a hidden gem”

August 26, “A visit with the other plovers”

September 23, “AI is for the birds”

Thanks, as always, for reading This Week in Birding in 2024! Your positive responses to these posts—and subscriptions, of course—are what keep this effort going. Wishing you a happy, healthy 2025.