Into the Wild

West Chicago Prairie

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DuPage County, IL

Did you ever wonder what the prairie was really like around the Chicago area way back when? West Chicago Prairie is the real thing. There are many prairie restorations around, but a large portion of this one has existed since before European settlement.

The land was owned by the Galena and Union Railroad from 1850 to 1960. It was used as a stockyard for feeding and watering cattle on their way to Chicago. The highest quality area was grazed but never plowed. The native prairie plants with deep roots survived and thrived when the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County and the city of West Chicago obtained it in 1979. In May 2006, the highest quality section of the prairie was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve.

The Forest Preserve District and the West Chicago Prairie Stewardship Group are constantly restoring the more disturbed prairie and savanna remnants. According to Steve Senthoff, president of the stewardship group, “there are at least two activities a month. Volunteers are needed and welcome.” The group works on restoration year-round, and is celebrating its 25th year. Forest preserve staff conduct controlled burns, and invasive plant control is an ongoing task.

From spring through fall, more than 500 plant species can be seen here. The preserve flowers in an amazing succession of blooms. Each week brings something new. A chart of blooming times can be found on the stewardship website. Rare plants such as shooting stars and hoary puccoon bloom in spring and early summer in the wet mesic prairie.

Spring brings some of the Midwest’s rarest birds. One hundred eighty-six bird species occur at the preserve. Many have been identified by bird monitor Marilyn Bell, who says “woodcocks in their courting ritual are guaranteed in the areas around the parking lot in March. Later, Wilson’s snipe are sure to be overhead, drawing the eyes upward toward their winnowing wings.” Other early arrivals include wood duck, killdeer, fox sparrow, eastern meadowlark, and rusty blackbird. By April, look for rails, pied-billed grebes, and sparrows, including Henslow’s and grasshopper sparrows. In May, look for bobolinks, cuckoos, flycatchers, vireos, wrens, thrushes, and warblers. Yellow-breasted chats are one of the rarest birds to nest here.

Other wildlife found at West Chicago Prairie includes coyotes, meadow voles, and thirteen-lined ground squirrels, as well as the rare Blanding’s turtle. West Chicago Prairie is also home to many butterflies and skippers. A recent study found 349 species of insects, 95 of which are uncommon or rare.

In June, go out early to hear the full chorus of birds at the same time the flowers are reaching their peak. Please stay on the paths, which are narrow and unpaved. For more information, call the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County at (630) 942-6075.

— Jody Zamirowski

Related Articles:

Into the Wild: West Chicago Prairie, CW Summer 1998