Nature Areas
McCormick Place Bird Sanctuary
Directions:Paid parking is available at McCormick Place Lakeside Center. Drivers can also park at 31st Street and the lake and walk 0.8 miles along the Lakefront Trail. Visitors can also walk or ride their bicycles south from the Museum Campus along the Lakefront Trail.
Description:
Built in 2003, the McCormick Place Bird Sanctuary in Burnham Park became the Park District's fourth bird sanctuary on Chicago's lakefront. The 6-acre sanctuary contains two prairies, shrub and woodland habitat, and a freshwater stone birdbath. Together, these habitats provide food, resting places and shelter for some of the millions of birds that migrate along Chicago's lakefront every spring and fall.
In addition to the McCormick Bird Sanctuary, there are three other bird sanctuaries along the lakefront, including Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary and Bill Jarvis Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Lincoln Park and Paul H. Douglas Nature Sanctuary (Wooded Island) in Jackson Park.
The prairie at the north end of the sanctuary was built on top of an underground parking garage. The wildflowers and grasses selected to grow on top of the roof are ones with fibrous spreading roots such as aster and goldenrod that can adapt to the shallow 18-24 inches of soil over the garage. A wooden overlook with interpretive signage on the east side provides views into the prairie and a fence keeps people and dogs from disturbing the birds.
An unfenced prairie to the south, beyond the parking structure, includes plants with long tap roots like compass plant, blazing star, and prairie dock. A path winds through this prairie that ends with a stone birdbath at the north end. Fresh water is piped in and recirculated by solar power. Birds are attracted by the sound of water dripping from the limestone shelves into a shallow pool that is planted with wild iris, cardinal flower, arrowhead, and sedges. Small trees and shrubs surround the birdbath, offering privacy and places to perch.
Oak trees and more than 800 shrubs were planted around the prairies to offer food, shelter and a place to rest. Species were specifically selected for their potential to provide food (e.g. attract insects or provide berries) for hungry migrants and include native species of honeysuckle, roses, viburnum, hazelnut, serviceberry and many others. Many common and rare birds were already spotted in the sanctuary the first year it was built including sora rails, long-eared owls, warblers, hawks, and even an American bittern in the north prairie.
Funding for the McCormick Place Bird Sanctuary was provided by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, Chicago Park District, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Unites States Department of Agriculture (Forest Service).
Chicago Park District
Department of Natural Resources
February 2002