Tournament Of Birds Swoops In For Another Year Of March Madness

Press release from the Forest Preserve District of Will County:

Does one of our favorite birds have what it takes to win this year's Tournament of Birds? You'll soon be able to find out while also playing along when our own version of March Madness returns for another year.

In this tournament, which officially kicks off Sunday, March 14, on Facebook, 16 birds that can be seen in Will County will be competing for a non-existent trophy. Some birds are mainstays in your yard. Others are a real treat to see. And in the case of the western tanager, it's a bird that got lost along the way and caused quite a stir during a pit stop in Channahon last year.

We've broken down the 16-bird field into four color-based regionals:

• Red regional: cardinal, scarlet tanager, rose-breasted grosbeak and red-headed woodpecker.
• White regional: great egret, snowy owl, American white pelican and ring-billed gull.
• Blue regional: blue jay, indigo bunting, eastern bluebird and great blue heron.
• Yellow regional: American goldfinch, palm warbler, cedar waxwing and western tanager.

Our Tournament of Birds committee also has seeded each bird.

How does a bird win? The public can vote for favorite their bird in each matchup by leaving a comment with their bird of choice on the specific matchup posted on Facebook. Each matchup will be posted at 10 a.m., and votes through 9:59 a.m. the next day will be counted.

We're sure you'll disagree with some of our selections, but this isn't park district athletics where everyone is a winner. Heck, even birds you may not be fond of — yes, we're talking about ring-billed gulls — have some redeeming qualities and are winners in some folks' books.

Each day, we'll post the matchup on Facebook as well as provide a direct link here to vote. The bracket on this post will be updated after each round.

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This press release was produced by the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The views expressed are the author's own.