Crawford County has been receiving increasing attention from Wisconsin's bird watchers in recent years. Besides holding the extreme southern portion of the Kickapoo River, Crawford County is in part bordered by the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. The wetlands that these provide, some along the Mississippi flyway, provide a splendid diversity of aquatic birdlife for the Wisconsin birder to enjoy. At the other extreme, Crawford County contains the Hogback Prairie which is operated by the Wisconsin chapter of the Nature Conservancy  and is the largest remnant of tall grass prairie in Wisconsin. Between these extremes varied habitats including oak openings and both upland and lowland forests provide opportunities to view many land birds as well. The county was described in early editions of Wisconsin's Favorite Bird Haunts as "a relatively unexplored but potentially fine looking area". In the latest edition of this book (Tessen, 2000 ), the entire section for Crawford County has been much expanded thanks to the contributions of Dennis Kirschbaum. The primary study area covered in this website is adjacent to area "H" for Crawford County as described in that reference.

Since the beginning of my visits to the area, I have kept careful records of all of the species that I have observed. These records have been organized with the Thayer Birding software and a list of species thus far seen is provided (see KickBirds). The list presently includes a total of one hundred and seven (107) species. Of special interest to me among the apparent nesting birds (as judged by the time that they were seen) have been the great blue heron, great egret, wild turkey, red-shouldered hawk, barred owl, ruffed grouse, northern bobwhite, prothonitary warbler, tufted titmouse and as many as seven species of woodpeckers. An American bald eagle nests about one mile from the study area. It is important to remember that these data are not the result of systematic studies of the area but rather simply document the birds that I have seen during my normal activities on and around and to and from the property. Many birds common to Crawford County do not appear on this list simply because my normal activities do not bring me within proximity of them. The Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas (WBBA) , a project of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Dept. of Natural and Applied Sciences and administered by the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO) , lists 112 species confirmed to breed in the county and another 17 as probable. Those species that I have seen that are not on the WBBA list are shown in red. They probably represent migrants or, as yet, unconfirmed residents. As more data is accumulated seasonal distribution maps will be prepared. Wisconsin Birds: A Checklist With Migration Graphs ( Barger et. al. ) is available through the WSO and provides this data for all of the Wisconsin birds.

A more comprehensive list of the bird's likely to be seen in Crawford County can be found as a link on the website of  the Friends of Wyalusing . This Wisconsin State park overlooks the outflow of the Wisconsin River into the Mississippi and has a large varity of habitats ranging from dry open fields, through oak openings and upland forests to the wetlands associated with river backwaters. As one would expect, Wyalusing attracts many migrant and resident species of birds. The most likely habitat for each of these is included on the list along with seasonal distribution information. The website also includes a listing of those species seen by the resident naturalist and the most recent visitors.

A more systematic study of the birds of the Kickapoo area can be found in A Birder's Guide to the Kickapoo Valley (Covel, Ruff and Duerksen, 1999 ). This publication summarizes surveys of the breeding birds of the upper Kickapoo River Watershed (the area known as the Kickapoo Valley Reserve) performed in the summers of 1997 and 1998. One hundred and one (101) species were found during these studies done from three vantage points: roads, trails and the Kickapoo River. The publication summarizes the area birds' abundance, probability of detection and presence on various trail sites with clearly presented entrees for each bird. This could well provide a model for future, more systematic work in my own study area.

Other information concerning the birds of this area can be had by reviewing the various publications of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. Much of the information contained in these publications, especially the Passenger Pigeon (the society's journal) and the Badger Birder (the society's newsletter) will be summarized and presented in future revisions of this website. An excellent reference for the study of all Wisconsin birds is Wisconsin Birdlife: Population & Distribution - Past & Present ( Robbins, 1991 ). It includes information relating to the birds' status, habitat, migration, and breeding. It is an essential tool for the Wisconsin birder.