For immediate release: april 1, 2014

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For more information, contact Kate Zimmerman (641) 464-2787 or Pat Schlarbaum 515-460-1815.

Prairie Chicken Day

KELLERTON, Iowa - Annual Prairie Chicken Festival will be held at Grand River Grasslands Bird Conservation Area on April 5. The site provides a wildlife viewing platform two miles west and one mile south of Kellerton. 

Viewers should plan to arrive early as the best viewing occurs at dawn. The event will proceed until the birds diminish their courtship dancing and booming, which is around 9:30 a.m.

Prairie chickens were reintroduced to the area and each spring their courtship dances occur where their booming calls resonate across southern Iowa hills and valleys. 

“It is really quite a show and something that was lost to the Iowa landscape during the 1950s,” said Pat Schlarbaum, wildlife diversity technician with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  

Spotting scopes, binoculars, and plenty of coffee and light breakfast foods will be available. Ringgold County Conservation Board director Kate Zimmerman will be on site with partners from the Iowa DNR to share the excitement of the return of these birds to the grasslands of Ringgold County. 

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