Breeding Birds of the Prairie at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

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A red-winged blackbird, black with red and yellow wing patches, flying over a brown and green prairie

A red-winged blackbird in the prairie at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. NPS photo.

Why birds

Birds delight visitors and have become a key part of the park's interpretive programmes, but they matter to the ecosystem too. Their fast metabolism and place in the food web make them early indicators of change, a canary in the coal mine. Protecting their habitat protects whole ecosystems for every species.

How change is measured

The NPS Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network surveys the birds that live at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, in Iowa, year-round or in summer, during the breeding season, tracking which species are present and how many. Together with measurements of the habitat, the data show how the bird community responds to changes in its habitat and how intact that habitat is. Trends in species declining across the park's wider bird conservation region (species of concern) show what the park's habitat means for them. Surveys have run since 2005.

Status and trends

In the nine years after monitoring began, scientists recorded 62 species during May–June visits, sixty-one of them breeding birds that live at the site year-round or in summer.

Four breeding species are of concern in the North American Bird Conservation Initiative's Eastern Tallgrass Prairie region.
Three species declined at the park while rising across the region over 46 years.
Fourteen species, one of them of regional concern, increased at the park while declining in the region over the long term.
The dickcissel was the only species of regional concern recorded in 2013.
Eastern meadowlark, mourning dove and American goldfinch were among the most common species.