Iowa’s Prairie Chicken Day canceled due to low bird numbers – Outdoor News

Kellerton, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has canceled the upcoming Prairie Chicken Day due to the decline in the local population to the point where staff have only observed sporadic use by a few male prairie chickens of the main Kellerton lek.

The effort to return the prairie chicken to Ringgold County, Iowa, and Harrison County, Missouri, had begun in 1987, when wild birds captured primarily in Kansas and Nebraska, with a few coming from South Dakota, were released in the area. Ringgold and Decatur counties had been identified as offering the best habitat to support prairie chickens in Iowa.

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The last significant translocation effort was in 2017. Since then, the population has shown a steady decline with a few years of stability, but no significant increases to indicate a growing population have been recorded. DNR staff are continuing to conduct surveys for the birds and would appreciate any reports of prairie-chickens outside of the Kellerton Wildlife Area. 

The effort to return the birds to its native area was a partnership between the Iowa DNR, the Blank Park Zoo, Missouri Department of Conservation, Nebraska Game and Parks and The Nature Conservancy.

Source: https://www.outdoornews.com/2025/03/25/iowas-prairie-chicken-day-canceled-due-to-low-bird-numbers/