NPS Photo

A great horned owl is well-camoflauged in a tree on the edge of the prairie.

Birds perch, flutter, nest, hunt, and soar at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The park is on the Mississippi flyway, a major bird migration route. It offers an excellent grassland habitat teeming with insects and prairie plant seeds. Many species rest and take refuge in the park’s reconstructed tallgrass prairie and along its quiet stream.

Birds’ colors and songs add visible and audible vitality to the park's dignified commemorative setting. The presence or absence of grassland birds like sedge wrens, dickcissels, grasshopper sparrows, Henslow’s sparrows, bobolinks, and eastern meadowlarks indicate the prairie’s overall health. Populations of these species decline as prairies disappear from the landscape. Several species are of continental importance because of their dwindling numbers.

Sherry Middlemis-Brown

Volunteer citizen-scientists take an annual survey of breeding birds at Herbert Hoover NHS.

Volunteers survey breeding birds at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site using established scientific protocol. The findings supplement inventory and monitoring data collected by National Park Service biologists. Studying long-term changes in bird populations helps park managers evaluate prairie restoration efforts, the effectiveness of management methods (such as prescribed fire), and the quality of habitat the park provides.

The Bird Checklist for Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (PDF file, 725 KB), based on data from these scientific surveys, is your own tool for measuring the vital signs of the park's natural areas. Visitors are always encouraged to share their observations with the park staff.

Inventory & Monitoring Reports and Data

Avian surveys at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (PDF file, 1.53 MB)

Grassland Bird Monitoring at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Iowa: 2005-2006 Status Report (PDF file, 1.33 MB)