The golden-winged warbler, evening grosbeak and red-headed woodpecker share two aspects — their beauty and the fact they are much less common in the Midwest compared with a few decades ago.
That’s the good news-bad news message of “Endangered and Disappearing Birds of the Midwest” by Matt Williams (256 pages, $29, Indiana University Press).
The author, an endangered species management specialist with the Nature Conservancy, showcases 40 beautiful and interesting birds that could vanish from the Midwest. Each bird has its own chapter. Included are striking photographic portraits taken by the author.
There also is a text section that describes the bird and its activities, identifying marks and characteristics, vocalizations and nesting. There also is a map that shows the range of the bird in terms of breeding grounds, migration areas, nonbreeding areas and year-round zones.
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Some of the birds, such as the red-headed woodpecker, are year-round residents. Some are migratory species that breed in Indiana, such as the wood thrush. Still others, like several of the warblers, merely pass through the Hoosier state on the way from southern winter habitat to breeding areas in Michigan and Canada.
A variety of factors are responsible for the decline in these species — and mind you, the list is far from comprehensive. Loss habitat due to agriculture, urbanization and energy expansion tops the list. Other causes include collisions with vehicles and structures, encounters with feral cats, changing forest conditions and climate change.
Williams writes that the book is “a representative sample of some of the most beautiful and interesting birds from our region that may be lost at some point in the future unless significant work is undertaken to mitigate existing threats to these species and ensure that sufficient high-quality habitat in all phases of the birds’ life cycles remains.”
Without significant action, he says, these species might not be around for future generations to enjoy.
The book is colorful and informative. Readers will want to linger over the sumptuous photographs, but it’s clear Williams hopes his overarching message comes through clearly.
Williams also did the photography for “The Complete Guide to Indiana State Parks” by Nathan D. Strange (272 pages, $27, Quarry Books, an imprint of IU Press).
The author opens with a chapter of history, both of the state and of the state park system. He includes a small section on the derivation of the word Hoosier. He then focuses on each state park in order of creation from McCormick’s Creek and Turkey Run in 1916 to O’Bannon Woods and Prophetstown in 2004.
Each chapter includes a brief history of the park and a description of its natural, cultural and historical features. There also is a separate section describing each of the hiking trails in the park.
Then there are the photographs. While this is not a coffee-table book, readers might be tempted to skim through the text and linger over the images. But don’t overlook the words. This book marries the two elements nicely.
In all, this book is a handy one-volume reference for both the occasional park visitor and the devotee of Indiana’s varied state parks.
