19 Birds That Once Defined the Great Plains — and the Last Places You Can Still Find Them
The skies used to thunder with wings.Meadowlarks sang from fenceposts. Prairie chickens boomed across open grass. Flocks so thick they darkened the horizon. Now? Silence in places once alive with sound.The Great Plains have lost more than grass—they’ve lost their music. Plows, fences, pesticides, and sprawling suburbs have driven many native birds into steep decline. …