Iowa’s Favorite Bird Takes Flight Into Spring

Green thumbs (which isn't me) know that birds can be both beneficial and bothersome come gardening season. But they sure are beautiful to look at and listen to when they arrive into your neck of the woods, signaling Spring has arrived.

The bad news, according to Garden's Alive, is that generally, bird sightings have been decreasing. From 2014-17, it's reported that bird sightings in the U.S. dropped by 243,614 from 2009 to 2019.

But there is still plenty of majesty to see, and it's prime-time for bird-watchers to look up to the skies to see the majestic guests arriving to greet, especially here in the midwest. In their new article, cleverly called "The United States of Birding, Garden's Alive states 7 of the Top 10 "birding" states (considering the number of annual bird sightings per capita) are in the central United States. Although Iowa didn't make that top Top 10, we do tend to see a lot of the red-winged blackbird, which happens to be most common across the United States as well.

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The article goes on to note, for us non-geologists, that each bird has its own favored climate and habitat, even if some aren't exactly big on geography. I've never really looked closely and what type of birds are around, mostly just trying to keep my dog from raising cain when he sees them. I'll now be sure to see if I can spot the common red-winged blackbird. If you see one and would like to make a new friend, Wikipedia notes its favored diet includes seeds and insects.