front cover of The Iowa Nature Calendar
The Iowa Nature Calendar
Jean C. Prior
University of Iowa Press, 2007
One of the joys of midwestern living is the variety brought by the changing seasons. The lyrical text of The Iowa Nature Calendar brings a year to life—perpetually—through a daily appreciation of the chirping, blooming, singing details of Iowa’s natural world.
Because keeping track of past years’ observations will enrich your enjoyment of the current year, each month has ample room to add your own notes on blooming wildflowers, nesting birds, semaphoring ?reflies, and clicking cricket frogs as well as birthdays, anniversaries, and other annual celebrations.
The authors, both long-time Iowa naturalists, have included birth dates of notable Iowa conservationists, nature-related events from Bald Eagle Days to Christmas Bird Counts to the annual Frog and Toad Survey, and the names of the full moons from January’s Wolf Moon to December’s Long Night Moon. Particularly user-friendly are their suggestions for visits to state parks and preserves; for example, look for bison calves at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in June and spectacular flocks of migrating snow geese at DeSoto Bend Wildlife Refuge in October. They also remind you to put up purple martin houses and bat boxes in the spring, sign up for a class at Lakeside Laboratory in the summer, clean out your bluebird boxes in the fall, and watch for the glow of the aurora borealis in wintertime. Throughout they present intriguing, well-chosen information certain to appeal to all nature lovers from amateur gardeners to professional botanists.
[more]

logo for University of Iowa Press
Landforms of Iowa
Jean C. Prior
University of Iowa Press, 1991
Here is a captivating, authoritative guide to the Hawkeye State's landscape features and their geologic ingredients. The clearly presented text and superb full-color photographs and maps will inspire all visitors to read and enjoy the story of Iowa's landscape.
[more]

front cover of The Scientific Nomenclature of Birds in the Upper Midwest
The Scientific Nomenclature of Birds in the Upper Midwest
James Sandrock and Jean C. Prior
University of Iowa Press, 2014
The translation and explanation of genus and species names yield markers to help us identify birds in the field as well as remember distinctive traits. Having a basic understanding of the scientific and common names of birds reveals insights into their color, behavior, habitat, or geography. Knowing that Cyanocitta means “blue chatterer” and cristata means “crested, tufted” or that Anas means “a duck” and clypeata means “armed with a shield” tells you just about everything you need to identify a Blue Jay or a Northern Shoveler. In this portable reference book, James Sandrock and Jean Prior explain the science and history behind the names of some 450 birds of the Upper Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Since many of these birds occur throughout the United States, this handbook can also be used by birders in other parts of the country.
     The authors examine the roots, stems, and construction of scientific names from their classical Latin and Greek or other linguistic origins. The translations of these words and insights into their sources yield quirky, tantalizing facts about the people, geography, habitat, and mythology behind bird names. Each entry also includes the bird’s common name as well as local or regional names. Beginning birders confused by scientific names as well as more experienced birders curious about such names will find that the book opens unexpected connections into linguistic, historical, biological, artistic, biographical, and even aesthetic realms.
      Highlighting the obvious and not-so-obvious links between birds and language, this practical guide continues a long scholarly tradition of such books by and for those afoot in the field. Whether you are hiking with binoculars or watching a backyard bird feeder or reading at home, The Scientific Nomenclature of Birds in the Upper Midwest will greatly enhance your appreciation of birds.
[more]


Send via email Share on Facebook Share on Twitter