UN CAMINO CON LOS PAJARITOS

Illustrations by: Jonathan Carradine

Interview by: Tanya Bermudez

Y Chicago BIPOC Birders

It’s a quiet, crisp Saturday morning in March and the overcast sky is dropping snow flurries. A desolate Boathouse is echoing the songs of birds I cannot distinguish. “It’s a good day for a bird walk,” says Rebecca MacDonald, member of the Chicago BIPOC Birders group, a grassroots effort to build community.

I begin to realize that I’m underdressed for the sharp breeze in the air; my eyes still adjusting to the grey overlay. One could say it was dreary but pretty. I tell myself the walk will be sufficient to warm up. As MacDonald and I wait for Latina Birder Daniela Herrera to arrive, MacDonald shares what motivated her to join the birding community.

“I used to bird a lot when I was a kid with my dad, and it was something that I slowly lost as I got older. [And] after completing the Bird Outing Leader Training with Chicago Audubon Society, [which] was a really transformative experience to be able to get out in nature with other BIPOC folks and feel comfortable being in that space. While birds were certainly the focus, a lot of times these walks turned into all of us just hanging out and having a good time. Many of us who participated in the training wanted to be able to stay in contact after the completion of the training so that we could continue to go birding together, and thus the Chicago BIPOC Birders group was born.”

Herrera, who personally resonates with a Black-Capped Chickadee, a lively, flirty, active, intelligent little bird that loves Chicago in all its seasons, arrives, and luckily for me, she brings a second pair of professional and sponsored binoculars. We decide to walk the pebbled island pathway across from the Boathouse where we come across a gaggle of geese, who steadily attempt to approach us, likely searching for bread or claiming their territory. We stop when Herrera identifies Wood Ducks. “I’ve never seen them outside of the water,” says Herrera. A peek through my borrowed lens, and I can see their glistening vibrant emerald color.

“The lagoons at the park make it [a] great habitat for wading, dabbling, and diving birds, like Great Blue Herons, Wood Ducks, and Common Mergansers. Of course, the Mallards and Canada Geese love it too. There’s also great habitat along the edge of the lagoons for shorebirds like Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers. The beautiful tall trees are perfect for Downy, Hairy, and Red-headed Woodpeckers. Birds of Prey, like Red-Tailed Hawks, love to perch on their branches, keeping an eye out for their next meal. I’ve also seen that the American Kestrels, the smallest falcon in North America, love to perch on top of the light posts near the prairies, also looking for prey,” says Herrera.

Herrera adds, “The prairies and wetlands, with different shrubs, grasses, wildflowers, and small trees, are also beneficial for migrating birds like: Yellow Warblers, American Redstarts, Sparrows of all kinds, Orioles, Red-Winged Blackbirds, and Thrushes. Of course, our resident birds like American Robins, American Goldfinches, and House Finches love Humboldt Park too for all of its great resources and nesting habitat. Being along a major migratory pathway, near the lake, and all the great restoration that has taken place in Humboldt Park creates a sanctuary for these birds to live together.”

Chicago BIPOC birders member Caroline López-Martínez, (not present during the walk) also describes the importance of this habitat and notes that residents can support bird wildlife (and nature at large) by demonstrating respect for wildlife, and humility, through education.

“Humboldt Park has been an important piece of biodiversity here in Chicago, battling against proposed development projects throughout the years. It is a resilient green staple in the community, offering an array of different plant species and habitats, including wetlands and prairies, all coming together to support birds and other wildlife that inhabit and migrate in the area,” says Caro.

Caro relates with our state bird and all-year resident, the Northern Cardinal. “I’m obsessed with the bright red plumage of male Cardinals, especially displayed against the snow in winter. Their striking visual presence motivates me to continue to inhabit green spaces unapologetically as a BIPOC birder.

"The cardinal is also a symbol in my personal recovery, specific to social anxiety disorder. Anxiety can cause blushing, which can be negatively perceived by some individuals. Due to their bright red color, cardinals are popularly regarded as beautiful, which is very heartening to think about,” says Caro.

About five minutes pass of us gazing in silence, and it becomes evident to me how easily an hour flies by. In the stillness, the focus on the present moment gives us the opportunity to catch a glimpse of wonder. Within the span of a few wing flaps a rare sighting can be witnessed or missed. We make our way around the outskirts of the lagoon, navigating around muddy puddles. We discuss how some birding groups or individuals can be intense with their practice of keeping and recording lists of birds, and how different it has been cultivating an intentional BIPOC space.

“It is no secret that in many outdoor activities - hiking, backpacking, kayaking, birding, the faces we see, and the people organizing outings for these events, are primarily white. I’ve been interested in birding for so long, but never really got into it, I mean REALLY into it, until a space was created that was only for BIPOC folks to go out together every weekend during the spring for birding,” says Herrera. “In the spaces we create together, we are able to show up as our authentic selves: we laugh, share stories, cry, and just exist together. We can wear what we want, we help each other learn. In other spaces, I’ve been shushed, my knowledge questioned, and have been asked to speak Spanish to a group of white folks because I just happened to speak Spanish.”

I begin to think about how our ancestral experiences reveal the dynamic relationships people have maintained with birds, and the landscape, through art and folklore. How among Indigenous cultures, avian voices regularly impart messages and stories. The ways we interpret or receive those messages can profoundly change our relationship with our ecosystem and humanity. It becomes easy to understand how being activated in these outdoor spaces in the company of other BIPOC is a vastly different experience.

Caro adds “Through gentrification and other methods of socioeconomic displacement, the BIPOC community has been pushed out of many of these (green) spaces. There have also been instances where people of color have been made unwelcome, such as in the case of birder Christopher Cooper in Central Park in 2020. There is a societal misunderstanding that birding is a high-end hobby specific to white populations, which is far from the truth.”

“Observing wildlife, whether it be by birding or herping, is an ancient global activity, and the BIPOC community has the right to engage in this activity, inhabit spaces, and advocate for their representation within the birding community at large,” says Caro.

For MacDonald, “Participating in the [Chicago Audubon Society] training and this group has allowed me to reconnect with that part of myself which has been a very healing thing. It's also opened my eyes to all of the other wonderful work that folks in Chicago and around the country are doing to promote and encourage BIPOC folks to get outside and participate in outdoor activities.”

We complete our walk as we return to the Boathouse, talking about upcoming events and exchanging ways we can support each other’s initiatives. After just a couple of hours, I can say that I’ve seen a Flicker, a Wood Duck, a Cardinal, and a Kestrel. MacDonald and Herrera share that they primarily communicate and invite others on walks through their Slack group, which can be found on their website www.chicagobipocbirders.org.

In addition, the Chicago BIPOC Birders group lends out binoculars and field guides for use at their events, as well as other tools and resources. Caro advocates that we can do more by utilizing technology for education.

“It is very common for example, to see parkgoers feed bread to geese and ducks - this is a great opportunity to support bird wildlife through education. Through research, perhaps you come to find that foods such as cracked corn can support the diet of our feathered friends!”

MacDonald adds she hopes the group will continue to share information and grow organically. “We really want to be able to engage with folks who don't typically have consistent access or knowledge around using technology so that everyone who wants to can participate in these bird walks.”