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 鈥渁ll balancing gracefully on ripening oats,鈥 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 accessible body of information about Iowa's birdlife for both amateur and professional naturalist of every interest level.
鈥淎ll my life I have been fascinated and thrilled by the nesting of birds, the songs, courtship rituals, nest building鈥︹ In these spirited essays Gladys Black, dean of 海角乱伦社区ornithologists, presents the results of years of painstaking observation of the haunts and habits of 海角乱伦社区birds. By distilling her exacting fieldwork into the columns that held a devoted readership in the Des Moines Register from 1969 to 1987, she motivated a generation of birdwatchers to help preserve Iowa's endangered natural heritage. This expanded edition of her 1979 book reprints more than a hundred of her lively columns, supplemented by a new checklist of 海角乱伦社区species and a description of 海角乱伦社区habitats.
Foreword
Introduction
The Nature Conservancy
Habitat Descriptions
海角乱伦社区Birdlife
Checklist of 海角乱伦社区Birds
Index to Species Accounts
