Iowa Birds
Iowa is
home to an impressive number of bird species - from seasonal migrants to
species that make Iowa their home year round. Bird watching is a wonderful
hobby enjoyed by many Iowans young and old! Birds are interesting and abundant
making them wonderful wildlife to observe and study with children.
Creature Feature –
Yellow-Headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus
xanthocephalus)
Yellow-headed
blackbirds are medium-sized birds with stout bodies, large heads, and long,
conical bills. The males of the species have striking yellow heads and chests
with black bodies and white patches on the bend of their wings. Females are
brown instead of black and have duller yellow heads.
Yellow-headed
blackbirds are neotropical migrants.
Neotropical migrants are birds that spend their summers in a breeding range in
North America and migrate to Central or South America for the winter (see below
for more information on neotropical migrants).
Yellow-headed
blackbirds live in natural lakes and marsh habitats. They rest in reeds and cattails over the
water. Their song is a drawn out “krick” or “kack” that is often said to sound
like a rusty old gate.
Yellow-headed
blackbirds eat insects, grain, and seeds. They form large flocks in the winter
and flock to farm fields eating left-over grain.
Male and
female yellow-headed blackbirds migrate separately with the males arriving in
Iowa for the breeding season as early as April. The males stake out breeding
territories in wetlands as they wait for the arrival of the females in early
May. Males defend a territory and will have as many as eight females nesting
within his territory. He may help feed the young of the first nest for a short
time but otherwise the females care for the young on their own.
Nesting
occurs in May and June. Nests are built by the female. She weaves long strands
of vegetation around the upright stems of cattails. Nests are built over the
water. Females lay 2-5 grayish to greenish white eggs with brown or rofous
splotches. She will incubate the eggs for approximately 12-13 days. The young
are born altricial, or helpless, and are cared for by the female. They fledge,
or leave the nest, at about 2 weeks of age.
Yellow-headed
blackbirds begin their fall migration south as early as July. They are often in
large flocks with their smaller cousins, red-winged blackbirds.
All About
Birds: Yellow-headed Blackbirds
Neotropical Migrants
There are
386 bird species on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Neotropical Migratory
Bird Conservation Act bird list. Many of the birds on this list are also listed
as threatened or endangered. Neotropical migrants are particularly vulnerable
to habitat destruction as they face a lack of habitat in their summer breeding
grounds, their winter non-breeding grounds, as well as long their migration routes.
U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service: Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Bird List
North
America Migration Flyways
How Birds
Migrate
How You Can Get Involved!
While we
cannot directly influence the loss of habitat for neotropical migrants in their
tropical winter habitat we can do our part here in Iowa! As a class “adopt”
your schoolyard and make it a Schoolyard
Habitat. Schoolyard habitats benefit wildlife AND children as they plan,
build and LEARN. Learn more about planning a schoolyard habitat project:
National
Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitats
U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service: Schoolyard Habitat – Stewardship through action
Book List
Arnosky, J. 1993. Crinkleroot's
25 Birds Every Child Should Know. Simon & Schuster Children's
Publishing.
Arnosky, J. 1992. Crinkleroot's
Guide to Knowing the Birds. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Bailey, D. 1992. Birds: How to
Watch and Understand the Fascinating World of Birds. DK Publishing, Inc.
Boring, M. 1998. Bird, Nests,
and Eggs. T&N Children's Publishing.
Burnie, D. 2004. Bird. DK
Publishing, Inc.
Chu, Miyoko. 2007. Songbird
Journeys: Four Seasons in the Lives of Migratory Birds. Walker &
Company.
Davies, J. 2004. The Boy Who
Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon. Houghton Mifflin Company.
DeGraaf, R.M. 1995. Neotropical
Migratory Birds: Natural History, Distribution, and Population Change.
Cornell University Press.
Faaborg, J.R. 2002. Saving
Migrant Birds: Developing Strategies for the Future. University of Texas
Press.
Fitcher, G.S. 1982. Birds of
North America. Random House, Incorporated.
Gans, R, Mirocha, P. 1996. How
Do Birds Find Their Way? HarperTrophy.
Hume, R. 1993. Birdwatching.
Random House, Incorporated.
Johnson, A. 2005. Iowa Birds.
Lone Pine Publishing.
Kavanagh, J. 2001. Iowa Birds.
Waterford Press Ltd.
Knight, T. 2003. Marvelous
Migrators. Heinemann.
Kress, S.W. 2001. Bird Life.
Golden Guides from St. Martin's Press.
Peterson, R. T. and L. A.
Peterson. 2010. Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Robbins, C.S. 2001. Birds of
North America: A Guide to Field Identification. Golden Guides from St.
Martin's Press.
Rylant, C. 2006. The Journey:
Stories of Migration. Blue Sky Press.
Sibley, D. A. 2000. National
Aububon Society: The Sibley Guide to Birds. Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Group.
Stokes, D. and L.
Stokes. 2010. The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Little,
Brown & Company.
Tekiela, S. 2001. Birds of Iowa: Field Guide. Adventure Publications.
Weidensaul, S. and T. Taylor.
1998. Birds (Audubon Society First Field Guide Series). Scholastic, Inc.
For
factsheets, activity sheets and MORE visit:
IDNR: Education – Classroom
Resources (go to the Document Library at the bottom of the page for fact sheets
and activity sheets!)
