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Grasshopper sparrow
by Michael Forsberg

Wildlife

Wildlife abounds at Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center. The variety of habitats provides breeding, foraging, roosting, and wintering areas for a highly diverse suite of species. Complete lists can be viewed by selecting the following:

Birds (214 species - updated August 2009)
Mammals (30 species - updated October 2009))
Butterflies (51 species)
Dragonflies & Damselflies (32 species - updated October 2009)
Mosquitoes (15 species)

In 2004, Spring Creek Prairie was chosen as one of Audubon's first Important Bird Areas in Nebraska. It joins 23 other sites around the state, including Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary on the Platte River, providing critical wildlife habitat that attracts either a high diversity of birds or high numbers of migrants, or supports a significant number of bird species of concern.

Here is a list of species of note at Spring Creek Prairie at particular times of the year:

Spring/Fall Migrants	Summer Breeders	Winter Visitors
Great Egret Green Heron Osprey Ruby-crowned Kinglet Sedge Wren Swainson's Thrush Sprague's Pipit Savannah Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow Le Conte's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow	Wood Duck Yellow-billed Cuckoo Red-headed Woodpecker Willow Flycatcher Bell's Vireo Grasshopper Sparrow Field Sparrow Henslow's Sparrow Dickcissel Bobolink	Sharp-shinned Hawk Brown Creeper Golden-crowned Kinglet Red-breasted Nuthatch Harris's Sparrow Purple Finch Year-round Residents Greater Prairie-Chicken Northern Bobwhite Wild Turkey Red-bellied Woodpecker Northern Cardinal

Prairie

Native prairies are wonderfully diverse plant communities. All it takes is a close look to discover the rich abundance of plant life, from tiny lichens and moss to tall sunflowers and big bluestem. In fact, research has documented over 350 species of wildflowers and grasses, riparian trees and shrubs, and wetland plants at Spring Creek Prairie.

More information on tallgrass prairie can be found at this University of Nebraska-Lincoln Web site.

Sunflower
by Mark Hansen