Grassland birds are disappearing even from areas designed to protect them

Even in protected areas, birds are disappearing from America's prairies, and unpredictable weather isn't helping. That's the takeaway from a new study by researchers at Michigan State University, Oklahoma State University and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The study, published in the journal Ecological Applications, analyzed 16 years of bird survey data at 40 tallgrass prairie sites in western Minnesota.