When we think of bees, honeybees usually come to mind. But Illinois is home to 500 native bee species! One standout is the leafcutter bee, a gentle, solitary yet gregarious pollinator. Using their strong jaws, females cut leaves to build a cozy nest for her eggs. Unlike honeybees, leafcutters drop more pollen, making them 95% effective at pollination. Watch for their powdery yellow abdomens this summer!

Brown snakes, also called Dekay’s brown snakes, are small, harmless snakes common in Illinois. They live in forests, parks, and even cities, often hiding under leaves or rocks. They eat earthworms, slugs, and snails, and give birth to live young in late summer. Active mostly underground, they use their tongues to “smell” and may flatten their bodies or release a musky odor to scare off predators. You might spot one after a rain when they emerge

Double-crested cormorants get a bad rap, but they’re fascinating birds! Found in Will County from spring to fall, they have turquoise eyes, bronze wing feathers, and dive to catch fish. They don't steal fish, nor are they up to no good. They’re social, skilled hunters with unique traits like sun-drying wings and toe claws that act as combs. Visit Lake Renwick Preserve to spot them and bust the myths yourself!

Great horned owls are one of the eight owl species that live in Will County. They have plumicorns, or tufts of feathers, on their head resembling horns or ears. The ability to rotate their necks 270 degrees in either direction makes up for their inability to move their highly sensitive eyes in their sockets. Great horned owls can hear sounds as far as 10 miles away and are almost silent in flight due to their feathers and fringes. They have the most diverse diet of all raptor

North America is home to 17 woodpecker species, and seven live in Illinois. Woodpeckers hammer away to search for food, build nesting cavities, and to store their food supply. A woodpecker’s skull is designed to withstand repetitive pecking, and they have long tongues to help them reach for insects in tree bark. Unlike other songbirds, Woodpeckers have a zygodactyl toe that helps them climb and grab onto trees and other structures.

A mourning dove’s cooing can be heard in the early morning and throughout the day. They are diurnal ground seed eaters with grayish-brown feathers and black spots on their wings. Baby mourning doves rely on their mother’s crop milk, also known as pigeon milk, for a week before becoming about the size of an adult mourning dove and ready to leave the nest two weeks after hatching. Their ability to fly up to 55 mph allows them to escape from predators such as cooper’s hawks and

The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) is the only canid in America that climbs trees. They use their front legs to grasp a tree trunk, then use their back legs to push themselves up. Gray foxes are opportunistic foragers and use their sharp senses of sight, smell and sound to find their food. Breeding season for the gray fox is February through March where three to five pups on average are born by mid-May. Pups are ready to mate even before they are 1 year old.

Winter is a great time to birdwatch, especially for American goldfinches, which live in Illinois year-round. Males are bright yellow in summer but turn dull in winter. They are the only finch that molts twice a year. Their roller-coaster flight and “po-ta-to-chip” call make them easy to spot. Goldfinches mainly eat seeds, preferring sunflowers, thistles and asters. They nest late in summer to feed their young with seeds.