By Olivia Bautch
As of the time of this writing, 424 species of birds have been confirmed as spotted in the state of Indiana. So many of those recorded species are unlikely to be seen from year to year that when birders compete in big years, they aim to be a part of the “300 Club”, with that record currently set at 325 species.
It is no wonder, then, that Ed Hopkins’ recent feat has been called “the greatest accomplishment in Indiana birding history.” Not only is he the first birder to see 400 species in the state- over 94% of the total species ever recorded- but he did it twice.
Ed graciously took the time to speak with Amos Butler about his record. Read on for his own words on spark birds, favorite spots, and a sampling of his lifetime of birding stories, so far…
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ABAS: How long have you lived in Indiana? Where are you originally from and where are you stationed currently?
Ed: I was born in Indiana 78 years ago. My hometown is Kentland in Newton County. I have lived in West Lafayette since 1965.
ABAS: How long have you been birding? Do you have a spark bird?
Ed: I, formally, started to bird at the age of 13, but didn’t know of any other birders for the next decade. I saw an Allstate Insurance ad in the Sunday supplicant with 50 state license plates. I lived near the junction of US41 and US24 and got 48 fairly quickly.
I happened to visit the local library where I saw a copy of “A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America” by Roger Tory Peterson. The book had a checklist of eastern birds that was huge. It was Roger and I for that first decade.
My first try at a life list was 35 species. Various relatives had their favorite species. My mother pointed out meadowlarks. My father was a hunter and pointed out pheasants, geese and ducks. My paternal grandfather put up a communal bird house and showed me his martins. My paternal grandmother listened to her “Ginny” wrens in houses built by grandpa while doing laundry on the back porch. All this is before I started to list birds.
I also was an Indiana coordinator of the US Dept of Interior Breeding Bird Survey from the late 1970s until recently, and ran a roadside route from the mid-1970s until 2022. I had a contract to run the Indiana Breeding Bird Atlas for IDNR Non-game and Endangered Species Program (1985-1990). I did a number of counties for the 2005-2010 IBBA as a surveyor. I have been the Christmas Bird Count for Lafayette and for Willow Slough-Iroquois Preserves CBCs (1970s on). When they existed, I did Indiana Audubon Society Summer Bird Counts in many counties. I was the IAS Big May Day Bird Count and did Newton County, too. I Started the Sycamore Audubon Society and was its first president. I was an IAS president.
ABAS: Was there a certain point that you became determined to find the most birds in the state? Or did the species come more naturally?
Ed: I never thought about getting the most. I just wanted to find as many as possible. Nothing comes naturally. You have to keep honing your skills. You have to cover the whole state to catch birds that are more unique to northern, southern, western and eastern parts of the state. Lake Michigan is a real jewel. It is a migrant dam that temporarily slows waterbirds in the fall and landbirds in the spring.
In the last couple of decades, the internet has been a great source of instant information, particularly, in the last decade. When I first started, I knew no birders. There were field guides with range suggestions, and bird finding guides with information on hot spots. Otherwise, you were on your own. Now, there are Rare Bird Alert listservs, web pages, specialized social media sites and RBA sites with announcements. It has become a Pokémon Go game where newbies, with no experience, can run up a big list very quickly in a short time. My 68 years of birding has been the main reason that I eventually got to 400 species for the state.
ABAS: Oddly enough, January 2025 was not the first time you became a state species record-holder at 400 birds- Tell us about the first time you hit 400 species, and what happened to bring you back down to 399?
Ed: Limpkin down on Monroe Reservoir had been #399. My fear was Eurasian Tree Sparrow, which has been slowly expanding its range, might be #400. I was ecstatic when Brown Booby showed up at Spring Mill State Park last year to be #400. But within a month the professional ornithological organizations announced that my Hoary and Common Repolls had been lumped into Redpoll. Making Brown Booby #399. So, in January, Eurasian Tree Sparrow became my #400 as the booby prize.
ABAS: Our readers are very familiar with the location where you reclaimed your title- the Lye Creek Prairie Burn in Montgomery County. How important has that patch been in providing encounters with new bird species?
Ed: It is a small jewel in the middle of the corn-soybean agricultural desert. In 2014, Swainson’s Hawk became my 387th Indiana species from there. Some of the fun birds that I have seen there are: Hudsonian Godwit, Smith’s Longspur, LeConte’s Sparrow.
ABAS: Let’s talk about before #399 and #400. You are a Tippecanoe County resident, but just looking at your eBird profile, I can see that not all birds came from that county. How many state species did you find in Central Indiana, including the Burn? (and it’s okay to double-check your records!)
Ed: I have no easy way to know. But I have 297 species in Tippecanoe County and 158 species in Montgomery County according to eBird. For Montgomery County, only records after 2000 or so are computerized.
ABAS: Do you have a favorite spot and/or county in the region for birds? For other reasons?
Ed: Since I am from Newton County, I used to love to bird at Willow Slough FWA and, what is TNC Kankakee Sands Preserves. Over time, Willow Slough FWA blocked off two-track roads with gates and the IDNR opened up turkey season in the spring and extended waterfowl and seasons from December into February. These actions cut off access. I like Pine Creek Gamebird Habitat Area in Benton County. Now, I am slowing down and Celery Bog Nature Area and Bicentennial Nature Area in Tippecanoe County are my go-to spots.
ABAS: We want to hear about a few of your favorite, most rare, or most surprising state firsts found in the state. Give us your best stories about the encounters with or attempts to find those birds!
Ed: I was birding with Ken Brock and Pete Grube in Michigan City Harbor in 1977 when Ken spotted an adult Black-headed Gull flying by. In the early 1970s, I found a Purple Gallinule at Willow Slough FWA along Pogue Road Marsh. Was an exciting bird which I notice is in none of my computer records.
I joined the throngs of birders in the Potoka River NWA to see Black-tailed Godwit. During a lake watch with a large group of birders in Marquette Park in Gary in 1999, I was excited to see an immature Northern Gannet.
ABAS: Are there any notable species you didn’t get on the first attempt?
Ed: One that comes to mind is a Ross’ Gull at Eagle Creek Reservoir in 1995. I had not been there very many times and didn’t know the landmarks. I missed the orange gate at the 71st Street entrance and by the time that I found it the bird had flown. It stayed, and I got it.
[For] biggest losses. Greater Prairie Chicken- my dad told me that a guy brought one into a bar in Kentland in the late 1930s and announced that he had shot the last one. In 1970 or so, I talked to Dick Hudson, the Manager of Willow Slough FWA, who said that they had at least one near the North Newton High School. Everyone said that, but the truth was that the lek was really near Bogus Island (now, TNC Kankakee Sands office and buffalo pasture) two to three miles to the northwest.
White-tailed Tern- I responded to a call to drive up to East Chicago and saw the birders watching it disappear.
ABS: Do you have a favorite memory birding in the area, not necessarily due to a state bird, but rather the people and the birding experience itself?
Ed: Dr. Ken Brock, PHD, author of books on Indiana birds and Indiana Dunes birds, was a real organizer. I joined him and others on Indiana Big Days, searches for regional rare breeding birds, and out-of-state searches in Texas, the southwest, and Duluth.
On the way to pick me up for a trip to SW Indiana for regional breeders, he drove by the old Prairie Chicken Refuge in Newton County. Across the road in a hay field in what is now TNC Kankakee Sands was a singing Lark Bunting. We drove back north to see it before heading on to Gibson County.
ABAS: Any record-setting birder that I have talked with has had help along the way. Are there any shout-outs you want to give to locals who might be reading this article?
Ed: Ken Brock was a good birding friend. He was always working on bird identification ideas, ways to find rarities, places to find rare birds, searching for migrant traps near Lake Michigan. I used to join him and other regional birders on Saturdays during the late 1970s to early 1990s.
ABAS: Lastly, splits and lumps are an annual occurrence via the ABA Checklist Committee. Do you anticipate another taxonomic change stealing a species from your total in the near future? If so, do you have a plan to set that record straight once again?
Ed: The American Ornithological Society, Cornell Clement’s List (eBird) and other international professional ornithological societies make the lists. ABA follows. I thought Yellow-rumped Warbler was going back to Myrtle and Audubon’s… I have Audubon’s Warbler in the bank. That would make Brown Booby #400, again.
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We want to congratulate Ed on being the first birder in Indiana to see 400 different species of birds in the state, and to thank him for sharing some time-earned birding wisdom with us. Perhaps a split is in the cards for 2025 that will return the Brown Booby to its rightful place on Ed’s list. But until then, he’ll have to settle for the booby prize.