Booming Prairie Chickens in Newton, IL

**cancelled** – Booming Prairie Chickens in Newton, IL

Steve Bayer, leader

[Please note, this trip has been cancelled]

Few performances in the bird world are more memorable than the dawn display of Greater Prairie-Chickens at their booming ground, or lek—the traditional spot where males dance, call, and try to impress females with their vigor while drumming with their feet and producing whooping and cackling calls. Illinois Audubon Society is offering a chance to observe prairie chickens from inside the cover of a blind during the sunrise mating dance or “booming” at Prairie Ridge State Natural Area.

Our annual overnight will be Friday, March 20, near Effingham. Well before sunrise on Saturday, March 21, we’ll enter the blinds to watch the state-endangered Greater Prairie-Chicken booming on its lek. Afterward, we’ll tour the area looking for American Golden-Plover and Loggerhead Shrike. This trip will be limited to a total of 12 young birders and adults, ages 11+ only. 

There are limited spaces available for this trip. As we gain registrants, we will e-mail a PDF with important details and requirements of the trip – details we must follow in order to participate.

All hotel and food expenses for the overnight are your own responsibility.