Burr Oak Woods Nature Center Birding Trail

The Burr Oak Woods Nature Center offers hands-on displays and exhibits of the forest and aquatic habitats found at the conservation area, including a 3000 gallon aquarium filled with native fish species. Visitors can participate in interpretive and environmental education programs led by the center’s Naturalists, free of charge with prior registration. Prairie Days and Friday Night Live are terrific special events offered by the Naturalists at the center each year. A children’s area lets kids explore nature in a hands-on setting. The center offers an indoor bird viewing area that overlooks a bird feeding station.

Burr Oaks is predominately woodlands, with a restored glade and some restored prairie as well. The W. Robert Aylward Educational Pond is designed around youth environmental education. Check the ponds for uncommon waterfowl, like Ross’s goose, cackling goose, and dabbling and diving ducks. The conservation area has 6 self-guided nature trails including the Bethany Falls Trail, which runs through scenic limestone outcrops creating a maze-like path through the exposed formations before passing by the ruins of an historic farmstead. The brushy areas and grassland bring in a host of sparrows, including grasshopper, Henslow’s, Le Conte’s, and Savannah. Scarlet tanager, blue grosbeak, and Dickcissel are commonly seen as well. While hiking the woods, you will be able to get just about any woodpecker species common to the state, and you will be impressed by the variety of vireos, wood warblers, cuckoos, and more. Burr Oak is a great birding hotspot, attracting a range of birds species, depending on the season. Please add your finds to the eBird checklist for the area.