Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Turn off the lights for the birds! 🐦 Saturday looks to be a big migration night for birds like warblers, thrushes, sparrows, shorebirds, orioles, grosbeaks, buntings and hummingbirds! As they're returning home to Iowa or just passing through, lend a hand (wing?) and: Turn off unnecessary outdoor lighting from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. to help our feathered friends find their way. Turn off unneeded indoor lights overnight and use stickers or other methods to help make windows more visible and reduce collisions. Oh, and keep those cats inside, too. * Migration data and map source: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology/BirdCast

New week, new blooms 🌼 Now blooming: Wild geranium blooms Woodland phlox Jack in the pulpit (with bonus frog!) Columbine Field of Virginia bluebells Bellwort Rue anemone Field of wild geranium Spring beauty Bishop's cap Find which woodland wildflowers are blooming new you with our weekly report at iowadnr.gov/wildflower Some photos courtesy Sarah DeLong-Duhon, Don Weiss and Zachary Nie

Our wildlife staff know a lot about owls, nightjars, and, apparently, creating Dad Joke-level acronyms. Wait, nightjars? Yes, nightjars - like owls - are nocturnal birds that generally hunt at night. Unlike owls, they focus on insects, while owls seek out mostly small mammals (although they will also eat insects and a few other things). What does that have to do with Dad Jokes? Well, let us tell you what we found in our annual nighttime Monitoring of Owls and Nightjars survey, which we lovingly refer to as "MOON." 🌛 Of the 18 MOON routes surveyed in 2025, we observed: barred owls on 17 routes, eastern whip-poor-wills on 12 routes, great horned owls on 11 routes, eastern screech-owls on 6 routes, common nighthawks on 4 routes, barn owls on 3 routes, and Chuck-will’s-widows on 1 route. Most of the species observed are a species of greatest conservation need or a state threatened species in Iowa (only the barred, great horned and northern saw-whet owls are not included in those designations). This is only our tenth year of the MOON survey, so trends are still developing as we work to add new routes across the state, especially in Iowa's 24 established Bird Conservation Areas. By increasing the spatial coverage of MOON in Iowa, we will be able to expand our understanding of owls and nightjars in the state and repeated annual surveys will allow us to detect species trends over time for all routes. More years of MOON data and additional data on habitat management are needed to draw specific links between owl and nightjar species occupancy and habitat management in Iowa. However, we have identified four routes where Eastern Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow are declining, indicating that these areas may need additional habitat management to maintain the species at those sites. These nightjar species are declining across their range, and additional research is needed to determine exactly what is causing these population declines, though quality habitat is key to stabilizing populations. Short-eared owl photo by Justin Rogers Common nighthawk photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

In 1626, New Amsterdam was founded, a new St. Peter's Basilica opened in Rome, and quite possibly, this Iowa oak sprouted from an acorn. While we don't know the *exact* age of this champion white oak tree in Scott County, we know that other champion-sized oak trees have been about 400 years old! You can have an impact felt hundreds of years from now in Iowa with one simple act today - planting a tree on Arbor Day! 🌳

Lots of opportunities open across the DNR - don't miss out! Bureau Chief, Parks, Forests & Preserves State Park Technician, Black Hawk State Park State Park Technician, Pine Lake/Union Grove Fish Hatchery Technician, Rathbun Fish Hatchery Engineer EIT, Land & Waters Bureau Administrative Support Assistant, Field Services & Compliance Environmental Specialist, Air Quality Environmental Project Manager, Water Quality iowadnr.gov/emplyment

Check out this impressive northern pike from Spirit Lake! Our crews have been collecting northern pike from Big Spirit Lake as part of our annual broodstock efforts. Eggs are collected from the fish and fertilized, the fish are returned to the lake, and in about two weeks, the fry (baby pike) will hatch and be stocked into Iowa's shallow lakes!

Why touch grass when you can be completely immersed in nature instead? Happy Earth Day from Iowa's state preserves 🌎💚🌳 Pictured: White Pine Hollow State Preserve Bixby State Preserve, via Iowa Explorer Hayden Prairie State Preserve Bixby State Preserve, Brian Gibbs White Pine Hollow State Preserve, Craig Hemsath Psst: State preserves are dedicated for the permanent protection of significant natural and cultural features. If you visit, remember that preserves generally don't have established trails, restrooms, and other amenities you might expect at a state park.

Bee a friend this Earth Day and help us get statewide coverage for this year's Bumble Bee Atlas! 🐝 So far, Iowa’s volunteer community scientists have identified 13 species of bumblebees, including five of seven priority target species. But there's still plenty of ground to cover! We have four survey blocks that have yet to be surveyed - one covering parts of Mills, Montgomery, Fremont and Page counties; one covering parts of Winnebago, Worth, Hancock and Cerro Gordo; one covering parts of Woodbury and Ida; and one covering parts of Jones and Linn counties. Volunteers need to complete online training and can attend an optional in-person field day. To sign up, visit https://lnkd.in/g9k2-gda Bumble Bee Atlas is a national survey led by the Xerces Society that collects information on species present and their distribution in the state. In Iowa, Xerces Society partners with the DNR and Iowa State University. Not ready to volunteer? Spring is also a great time to add native plants around the home to benefit bees and other pollinators!

Sometimes a turkey's just gotta spread her wings and fly, you know? 🦃 And sometimes, the DNR's just gotta make an animated map of it, right? Here's how 44 hens (female turkeys) moved around our Odessa study area in 2025, showing the breakup of flocks and hens dispersing in spring, hanging out in summer, and moving to wintering areas later in the year. (For this study, the Odessa area is located in Louisa and Washington counties in southeast Iowa). These birds, fitted with GPS backpack transmitters, tell us more about where turkeys live, how they use the landscape, and which factors drive nest success and survival. We're currently in the middle of this 10-year study with partners, and we have three additional study areas (Maquoketa, Sugema, Rathbun). So what else did we learn about these birds in 2025? The nesting rate was the highest we've tracked so far, with 84.3% (75 of 89 adults) incubating at least one nest. Roughly one in four adults hatched a nest. About 23% of first nest attempts were successful. Annual hen survival was 67% for adults, well above the study’s average of 58%, and the highest recorded to date in this study. We fitted more hens with transmitters earlier this year, and the study will continue to investigate: Egg fertilization rates Sex ratio of clutches Nest predation Hen survival and mortality rates Poult and brood survival Daily and annual movements of hens Home ranges size and distribution Nest site selection and habitat Poult and brood habitat use Turkey populations and poult (baby turkey) production across the eastern U.S. have been declining since the late 1980s. While we know predation and disease impact Iowa's wild turkeys, we also know that they don't fully explain the decline. This study seeks to learn more about how different factors like the ones above work together to impact turkey populations in Iowa.

The first wildflowers may be fading, but that just means a new show's beginning! 🌸 See what's blooming near you this week at iowadnr.gov/Wildflower Pictured: Virginia bluebells bellwort trout lily woodland phlox Dutchman’s breeches cut-leaf toothwort bloodroot all photos courtesy Sarah DeLong-Duhon, except toothwort and bloodroot