FNR-165
Benton County offers birders in Indiana interesting opportunities to
see a variety of native birds. The land habitat on their land. In the
1990s, however, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources purchased
county is located in the several properties and began restoring wetland
and grassland habitats. Today, the Pine Creek Gamebird Habitat Area in
southeastern Benton County provides an outstanding birding portion of the
state that was dominated by prairies, and historically supported many
grassland birds. The amount of forest in the county has always been
small, and was further reduced by the clearing of many woodlots and
streamside vegetation. Thus, few woodland birds are widespread. Because
of these land-use practices, the typical birds for Benton County are
grassland specialists and open-country birds such as Grasshopper Sparrows
and Horned Larks, rather than the familiar woodland birds such as
chickadees and woodpeckers.
In the early 1990s, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources
purchased 700 acres to create habitat for pheasants and quail. The land
was farmed prior to this purchase. In 1995, Ducks Unlimited and the
Indiana Department of Natural Resources collaborated on a wetland
restoration project that created 100-150 acres of open wetlands by damming
the old drainage ditches on the property in a way that created a series of
wetland basins.
These definitions are somewhat arbitrary and do not accurately reflect
seasonal status in all cases. For instance, in February 1998, an early
thaw caused many waterfowl to migrate into the Pine Creek area. These
waterfowl records are summarized in the winter portion of the checklist
because they were recorded in February, but the birds were really early
spring migrants. It is better to use consistent season definitions than
to vary the definitions for each taxonomic group. Deviations from these
rules occurred when dealing with shorebirds, which migrate through Benton
County in April, May, and early June (spring migrants) and again during
JulyOctober (fall migrants). Of all the shorebirds reported for the area,
only the Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, and American
Woodcock are potential breeders in the area and therefore can accurately
be called "summering" birds. It would be confusing to report
JuneAugust shorebird records as "summer" birds as this might
imply they were breeding. Therefore, with the exception of these four
species, MarchJune records of shorebirds are reported as spring migrants,
and all JulyNovember records as fall migrants.
| SPECIES | BREEDING | SPRING | SUMMER | FALL | WINTER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common Loon | R | R | |||
| Pied-billed Grebe | B | C | U | C | |
| Horned Grebe | U | ||||
| Red-necked Grebe | A | ||||
| American White Pelican | A | ||||
| Double-crested Cormorant | C | C | C | ||
| American Bittern | U | R | R | ||
| Least Bittern | R | ||||
| Great Blue Heron | B | C | C | C | U |
| Great Egret | U | C | C | ||
| Little Blue Heron | R | R | |||
| Cattle Egret | R | ||||
| Green Heron | B | U | C | R | |
| Black-crowned Night Heron | R | R | R | ||
| Yellow-crowned Night Heron | R | ||||
| Glossy/White-faced Ibis | A | ||||
| Tundra Swan | R | R | |||
| Greater White-fronted Goose | R | ||||
| Snow Goose | R | R | |||
| Canada Goose | B | C | C | C | C |
| Wood Duck | B | U | C | C | U |
| Green-winged Teal | U | R | C | ||
| American Black Duck | R | R | U | ||
| Mallard | B | C | C | C | C |
| Northern Pintail | U | U | U | ||
| Blue-winged Teal | B | C | C | C | |
| Northern Shoveler | C | C | R | ||
| Gadwall | U | U | U | ||
| American Wigeon | U | C | U | ||
| Canvasback | R | R | R | ||
| Redhead | R | R | U | ||
| Ring-necked Duck | U | R | U | ||
| Lesser Scaup | C | R | U | ||
| Common Golden Eye | R | R | |||
| Bufflehead | U | R | U | ||
| Hooded Merganser | B | U | R | R | R |
| Common Merganser | R | ||||
| Red-brested Merganser | R | A | R | ||
| Ruddy Duck | U | ||||
| Turkey Vulture | B | C | C | C | R |
| Osprey | R | R | |||
| Bald Eagle | R | R | |||
| Northern Harrier | C | R | C | C | |
| Sharp-skinned Hawk | R | ||||
| Cooper's Hawk | U | U | U | ||
| Broad-winged Hawk | R | ||||
| Red-tailed Hawk | B | C | C | C | C |
| Rough-legged Hawk | R | R | U | ||
| American Kestrel | B | U | U | U | C |
| Merlin | R | U | |||
| Peregrine Falcon | R | R | |||
| Ring-necked Pheasant | B | C | C | C | C |
| Greater Prairie-Chicken | H | H | H | H | H |
| Wild Turkey | R | R | |||
| Northern Bobwhite | B | U | U | U | U |
| King Rail | R | ||||
| Virginia Rail | U | R | |||
| Sora | R | U | R | ||
| American Coot | C | U | C | U | |
| Sandhill Crane | U | U | U | ||
| Black-bellied Plover | R | R | |||
| American Golden-Plover | C | U | |||
| Semipalmated Plover | U | U | |||
| Killdeer | B | C | C | C | U |
| Black-necked Stilt | A | ||||
| American Avocet | A | ||||
| Greater Yellowlegs | U | U | |||
| Lesser Yellowlegs | C | C | |||
| Solitary Sandpiper | R | U | |||
| Spotted Sandpiper | B | U | U | R | |
| Upland Sandpiper | B | R | U | ||
| Hudsonian Godwit | R | ||||
| Marbled Godwit | R | ||||
| Sanderling | R | ||||
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | U | U | |||
| Western Sandpiper | R | R | |||
| Least Sandpiper | C | C | |||
| White-rumped Sandpiper | R | R | |||
| Baird's Sandpiper | R | ||||
| Pectoral Sandpiper | C | C | |||
| Dunlin | U | U | |||
| Stilt Sandpiper | R | U | |||
| Buff-breasted Sandpiper | R | ||||
| Short-billed Dowitcher | R | R | |||
| Long-billed Dowitcher | R | R | |||
| Common Snipe | C | U | |||
| American Woodcock | R | U | R | ||
| Wilson's Phalarope | R | R | |||
| Red-necked Phalarope | R | ||||
| Franklin's Gull | R | ||||
| Bonaparte's Gull | R | R | |||
| Ring-billed Gull | U | U | U | ||
| Caspian Tern | R | R | |||
| Common Tern | A | ||||
| Forster's Tern | U | U | R | ||
| Black Tern | U | R | R | ||
| Rock Dove | B | C | C | C | C |
| Mourning Dove | B | C | C | C | C |
| Black-billed Cuckoo | B | R | R | ||
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | B | U | R | ||
| Barn Owl | H | ||||
| Eastern Screech-Owl | B | U | U | U | U |
| Great Horned Owl | B | U | U | U | U |
| Snowy Owl | H | ||||
| Barred Owl | B | U | U | U | U |
| Long-eared Owl | H | ||||
| Common Nighthawk | R | R | |||
| Chimney Swift | B | C | C | U | |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | B | U | C | R | |
| Belted Kingfisher | B | U | C | C | U |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | B | C | C | C | U |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | B | C | C | C | C |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | U | ||||
| Downy Woodpecker | B | C | C | C | C |
| Hairy Woodpecker | H | R | C | ||
| Northern Flicker | B | C | C | C | U |
| Pileated Woodpecker | R | ||||
| Eastern Wood-Pewee | B | U | C | ||
| Yellow-bellied Flycatcher | A | ||||
| Willow Flycatcher | B | C | U | ||
| Least Flycatcher | R | ||||
| Eastern Phoebe | B | U | U | ||
| Great Crested Flycatcher | B | U | |||
| Eastern Kingbird | B | U | C | U | |
| Horned Lark | B | C | C | C | C |
| Purple Martin | B | R | R | ||
| Tree Swallow | B | C | C | C | |
| N. Rough-winged Swallow | B | R | U | R | |
| Bank Swallow | R | U | |||
| Cliff Swallow | U | U | R | ||
| Barn Swallow | B | U | C | U | |
| Blue Jay | B | C | C | C | C |
| American Crow | B | C | C | C | C |
| Carolina Chickadee | C | C | C | C | |
| Tufted Titmouse | C | C | C | C | |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | U | ||||
| White-breasted Nuthatch | C | C | C | C | |
| Brown Creeper | U | ||||
| Carolina Wren | U | U | |||
| House Wren | B | C | C | U | |
| Sedge Wren | B | R | C | R | |
| Marsh Wren | R | ||||
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | U | ||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | R | R | |||
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | R | ||||
| Eastern Bluebird | B | C | C | U | |
| Veery | R | R | |||
| Gray-cheeked Thrush | U | ||||
| Swainson's Thrush | C | ||||
| Hermit Thrush | R | ||||
| Wood Thrush | R | U | |||
| American Robin | B | C | C | C | H |
| Gray Catbird | B | U | C | U | |
| Northern Mockingbird | B | U | U | R | R |
| Brown Thrasher | B | C | C | ||
| American Pipit | C | R | |||
| Cedar Waxwing | B | U | U | U | H |
| Loggerhead Shrike | H | H | |||
| European Starling | B | C | C | C | C |
| White-eyed Vero | R | R | |||
| Bell's Vero | R | R | |||
| Blue-headed Vero | R | ||||
| Yellow-throated Vero | r | ||||
| Warbling Vero | B | R | R | ||
| Red-eyed Vero | R | ||||
| Golden-winged Warbler | R | ||||
| Tennesse Warbler | R | R | R | ||
| Nashville Warbler | R | ||||
| Northern Parula | R | ||||
| Yellow Warbler | B | U | C | R | |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler | R | ||||
| Magnolia Warbler | R | ||||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | C | C | |||
| Black-throated Green Warbler | R | ||||
| Blackburnian Warbler | R | ||||
| Yellow-throated Warbler | R | ||||
| Palm Warbler | U | U | |||
| Bay-breasted Warbler | H | ||||
| Blackpoll Warbler | R | ||||
| Black-and-white Warbler | R | ||||
| American Redstart | R | ||||
| Ovenbird | U | U | |||
| Northern Waterthrush | R | ||||
| Kentucky Warbler | R | ||||
| Connecticut Warbler | R | ||||
| Mourning Warbler | R | ||||
| Common Yellowthroat | B | C | C | U | |
| Wilson's Warbler | R | ||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | R | ||||
| Summer Tanager | R | R | |||
| Scarlet Tanager | R | ||||
| Northern Cardinal | B | C | C | C | C |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | C | C | |||
| Indigo Bunting | B | U | C | R | |
| Dickcissel | B | U | C | ||
| Eastern Towhee | B | C | C | ||
| American Tree Sparrow | U | U | C | ||
| Chipping Sparrow | B | C | C | R | |
| Field Sparrow | B | C | C | U | |
| Vesper Sparrow | B | U | U | U | U |
| Savannah Sparrow | B | U | U | C | U |
| Grasshopper Sparrow | B | U | U | ||
| Fox Sparrow | R | U | |||
| Song Sparrow | B | C | C | C | C |
| Lincoln's Sparrow | U | ||||
| Swamp Sparrow | U | R | U | U | |
| White-throated Sparrow | U | U | |||
| White-crowned Sparrow | U | U | U | ||
| Dark-eyed Junco | R | U | C | ||
| Lapland Longspur | U | ||||
| Smith's Longspur | R | ||||
| Bobolink | B | U | U | ||
| Red-winged Blackbird | B | C | C | C | C |
| Eastern Meadowlark | B | C | C | C | C |
| Western Meadowlark | B | R | |||
| Rusty Blackbird | U | ||||
| Common Grackle | B | C | C | C | C |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | B | C | C | C | U |
| Orchard Oriole | B | U | U | ||
| Baltimore Oriole | B | C | C | ||
| Purple Finch | R | R | |||
| House Finch | B | C | C | C | C |
| White-winged Crossbill | A | ||||
| Common Redpoll | R | ||||
| Pine Siskin | U | ||||
| American Goldfinch | B | C | C | C | C |
| Evening Grosbeak | R | R | |||
| House Sparrow | B | C | C | C | C |
NEW 12/98 (2M)
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