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From robins nesting on window ledges to short-eared owls sailing low over snowy fields, pied-billed grebes diving for fish to catbirds singing on moonlit nights, Black introduces us to the birds of field and forest, prairie and pond. Whether describing red-breasted nuthatches gorging on suet at her feeder after a snowstorm or a flock of American goldfinches all balancing gracefully on ripening oats, ' she reminds us of the natural sights and sounds that we must appreciate and protect. Humorous, personal, engaging, and instructive, her essays provide a readily acessible body of information about Iowa's birdlife for both amateur and professional naturalists of every interest level
From robins nesting on window ledges to short-eared owls sailing low over snowy fields, pied-billed grebes diving for fish to catbirds singing on moonlit nights, Black introduces us to the birds of field and forest, prairie and pond. Whether describing red-breasted nuthatches gorging on suet at her feeder after a snowstorm or a flock of American goldfinches "all balancing gracefully on ripening oats, ' she reminds us of the natural sights and sounds that we must appreciate and protect. Humorous, personal, engaging, and instructive, her essays provide a readily acessible body of information about Iowa's birdlife for both amateur and professional naturalists of every interest level.
"In this elegant narrative, celebrated naturalist Ted Floyd guides you through a year of becoming a better birder. Choosing 200 top avian species to teach key lessons, Floyd introduces a new, holistic approach to bird watching and shows how to use the tools of the 21st century to appreciate the natural world we inhabit together whether city, country or suburbs." -- From book jacket.
"This book tells the recent story of Iowa's wildlife from recovery and restoration to disappointing declines. During the pandemic, the number of visitors to state parks, wildlife areas, and other natural areas has increased greatly. For many, this is a new experience. This book will provide them with a reliable source of information about many of the animals that they are now seeing. Much has changed with Iowa's wildlife in the past 30 years. Some species like Canada goose, wild turkey, and white-tailed deer that once were rare in Iowa are now common, and others like sandhill crane, river otter, and trumpeter swan are becoming increasingly abundant. The goal of this book is to provide an up-to-date, scientifically based summary of changes in the distribution, status, conservation needs, and future prospects of about 60 species of Iowa's birds and mammals whose populations have increased or decreased in the past 30 years. Emphasis is given to several species that have experienced significant growth, some that show signs that they may experience future growth, and a few whose long-term future in Iowa is in jeopardy. This book is not an update of James and Stephen Dinsmore's earlier book, A Country So Full of Game, which discussed Iowa's wildlife up to about 1990. This is an entirely new book, discussing what has happened in the years 1990-2020. For species covered in the earlier book, only a brief discussion of earlier years is provided to connect the new material to what happened earlier"--
"The Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas"—the first comprehensive statewide survey of Iowa's breeding birds—provides a detailed record of the composition and distribution of the avifauna of the Hawkeye State. The atlas documents the presence of 199 species, 158 of which were confirmed breeding. This landmark volume will alert Iowans to the limited distribution of numerous species and serve as a guide to the management practices—such as forest and wetland management, set-aside programs, reduction in farm chemical use, and crop diversity—which could help insure that many future changes are positive ones. "The Iowa Breeding Bird Atlas" provides a welcome and much-needed baseline for future comparisons of changes in Iowa's birdlife and, by extension, the lives of all animals in the state.
Fourteen North American habitats are pictured in two-page spreads, each featuring one bird that lives in that habitat. The author suggests ways children can make their back yards safe for birds.
Iowa has been blessed with citizens of strong character who have made invaluable contributions to the state and to the nation. In the 1930s alone, such towering figures as John L. Lewis, Henry A. Wallace, and Herbert Hoover hugely influenced the nation’s affairs. Iowa’s Native Americans, early explorers, inventors, farmers, scholars, baseball players, musicians, artists, writers, politicians, scientists, conservationists, preachers, educators, and activists continue to enrich our lives and inspire our imaginations. Written by an impressive team of more than 150 scholars and writers, the readable narratives include each subject’s name, birth and death dates, place of birth, education, and career and contributions. Many of the names will be instantly recognizable to most Iowans; others are largely forgotten but deserve to be remembered. Beyond the distinctive lives and times captured in the individual biographies, readers of the dictionary will gain an appreciation for how the character of the state has been shaped by the character of the individuals who have inhabited it. From Dudley Warren Adams, fruit grower and Grange leader, to the Younker brothers, founders of one of Iowa’s most successful department stores, The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa is peopled with the rewarding lives of more than four hundred notable citizens of the Hawkeye State. The histories contained in this essential reference work should be eagerly read by anyone who cares about Iowa and its citizens. Entries include Cap Anson, Bix Beiderbecke, Black Hawk, Amelia Jenks Bloomer, William Carpenter, Philip Greeley Clapp, Gardner Cowles Sr., Samuel Ryan Curtis, Jay Norwood Darling, Grenville Dodge, Julien Dubuque, August S. Duesenberg, Paul Engle, Phyllis L. Propp Fowle, George Gallup, Hamlin Garland, Susan Glaspell, Josiah Grinnell, Charles Hearst, Josephine Herbst, Herbert Hoover, Inkpaduta, Louis Jolliet, MacKinlay Kantor, Keokuk, Aldo Leopold, John L. Lewis, Marquette, Elmer Maytag, Christian Metz, Bertha Shambaugh, Ruth Suckow, Billy Sunday, Henry Wallace, and Grant Wood. Excerpt from the entry on: Gallup, George Horace (November 19, 1901–July 26, 1984)—founder of the American Institute of Public Opinion, better known as the Gallup Poll, whose name was synonymous with public opinion polling around the world—was born in Jefferson, Iowa. . . . . A New Yorker article would later speculate that it was Gallup’s background in “utterly normal Iowa” that enabled him to find “nothing odd in the idea that one man might represent, statistically, ten thousand or more of his own kind.” . . . In 1935 Gallup partnered with Harry Anderson to found the American Institute of Public Opinion, based in Princeton, New Jersey, an opinion polling firm that included a syndicated newspaper column called “America Speaks.” The reputation of the organization was made when Gallup publicly challenged the polling techniques of The Literary Digest, the best-known political straw poll of the day. Calculating that the Digest would wrongly predict that Kansas Republican Alf Landon would win the presidential election, Gallup offered newspapers a money-back guarantee if his prediction that Franklin Delano Roosevelt would win wasn’t more accurate. Gallup believed that public opinion polls served an important function in a democracy: “If govern¬ment is supposed to be based on the will of the people, somebody ought to go and find what that will is,” Gallup explained.
Iowa's rock record is the product of more than three billion years of geological processes. The state endured multiple episodes of continental glaciation during the Pleistocene Ice Age, and the last glacier retreated from Iowa a mere (geologically speaking) twelve thousand years ago. Prior to that, dozens of seas came and went, leaving behind limestone beds with rich fossil records. Lush coal swamps, salty lagoons, briny basins, enormous alluvial plains, ancient rifts, and rugged Precambrian mountain belts all left their mark. In "Iowa's Geological Past, " Wayne Anderson gives us an up-to-date and well-informed account of the state's vast geological history from the Precambrian through the end of the Great Ice Age. Anderson takes us on a journey backward into time to explore Iowa's rock-and-sediment record. In the distant past, prehistoric Iowa was covered with shallow seas; coniferous forests flourished in areas beyond the continental glaciers; and a wide variety of animals existed, including mastodon, mammoth, musk ox, giant beaver, camel, and giant sloth. The presence of humans can be traced back to the Paleo-Indian interval, 9,500 to 7,500 years ago. Iowa in Paleozoic time experienced numerous coastal plain and shallow marine environments. Early in the Precambrian, Iowa was part of ancient mountain belts in which granite and other rocks were formed well below the earth's surface. The hills and valleys of the Hawkeye State are not everlasting when viewed from the perspective of geologic time. Overall, Iowa's geologic column records an extraordinary transformation over more than three billion years. Wayne Anderson's profusely illustrated volume provides a comprehensive and accessible survey of the state's remarkable geological past.
With nearly fifty featured trails, Iowa's verdant countryside is an excellent place for a hike, and this guide covers the state's varied terrain with a focus on the state parks and recreation areas.