Siloam Springs State Park will host hummingbird festival

The Illinois Audubon will hold a hummingbird festival at Siloam Springs State Park will be held 9 a.m. - noon July 7 in the concession area of the park.

The festival is open to the public, and there is no admission charge.

Vernon Kleen, master permit bander and member of the Illinois Audubon Society Board of Directors, will be capturing and banding the birds.

Hummingbirds are captured by a remote control trapping mechanism and the birds are held only long enough to record basic data before release.

Banding helps researchers understand how far hummingbirds migrate, where they spend the winter, how long they live, and whether or not they come back to the same sites year after year.

Kleen said birds banded in Illinois have already been found in Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Participants may also “adopt” a bird by making a $5 donation to the Illinois Audubon Society’s land acquisition fund.

Donors will receive a certificate and will be notified if their bird is ever recaptured. 

Visitors may access the park via Illinois 104 thru Liberty and follow signs one mile east of Liberty or come south from Clayton off U.S. 24 and follow signs to Siloam Springs State Park.

For more information on locating the park, contact Siloam Springs at (217) 894-6205.