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What Lives at Orland Prairie?

By restoring land through the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation's Community Stewardship Challenge Grant program, we are providing habitat for native species.

The following birds, mammals, reptiles, and forbs have been observed at Orland Prairie, the site of the Nachusa Grasslands volunteer project:

Birds:

• American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
  
• American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
• American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
• American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
• American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)
• Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
• Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)
• Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
• Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
• Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
• Brown-Headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
• Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
• Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
• Double–Crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auratus)
• Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
• Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
• Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
• Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)
• Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
• Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)
• Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
• Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
• Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
• House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
• House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
• Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)
• Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
• Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)
• Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula)
• Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus)
• Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
• Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
• Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
• Red-Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
• Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
• Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)
• Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
• Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
• Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
• Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
• Veery (Catharus fuscescens)
• Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
• Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)
• Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
• Yellow-Billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
• Yellow-Breasted Chat (Icteria virens)

Have you seen more species at Orland? Send an email to Friends reporting your findings.

Mammals:

• Beaver (Castor canadensis)
• Bobcat (Felis rufus)
• Coyote (Canis latrans)
• Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
• Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
• Whitetail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Reptiles:

• Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii)
• Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
• Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)
• Northern Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi)
• Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornate ornate)

 
Spring and Early Summer Forbs:

• Alum Root (Heuchera richardsonii)
• Arrow-Leaved Violet (Viola sagittate)
• Bicknell’s Sedge (Carex bicknellii)
• Bird's Foot Violet (Viola pedata)
• Blood Root (Sanguinaria canadensis)
• Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium albidum)
• Common Violet (Viola sororia)
• Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
• Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
• Grass-Leaved Goldenrod (Solidago graminifolia)
  
• Hairy Beard Tongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
  
• Hoary Puccoon (Lithospermum incisum)
• Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)
  
• Illinois Tick Trefoil (Eryngium yuccifolium)
  
• Kitten Tail (Besseya bullii)
• May-Apple (Podophyllum peltatum)
• Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)
• Orange-Fruited Horse Gentian (Triosteum aurantiacum)
• Pale Spiked Lobelia (Lobelia spicata)
• Plantain-Leaved Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
• Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
  
• Prairie Ragwort (Senecio plattensis)
  
• Prairie Tall Cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta)
• Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)
• Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
• Roundhead Bush Clover (Lespedeza capitata)
• Slender Bushclover (Lespedeza virginica)
• Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)
• Violet Wood Sorrel (Oxalis violacea)
• Wafer Ash (Ptelea trifoliata)
  
• Wild White Indigo (Baptisia leucantha)
  
• Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
• Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

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