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a cedar waxwing bird sitting on a tree branch with a red berry in its mouth
Read article: Berry Succession: Creating a continuous food source for birds
Berry Succession: Creating a continuous food source for birds
One of the most favored hobbies of outdoor enthusiasts, gardeners, and wildlife lovers is feeding the birds. Setting out a bird feeder with seed or...
A dead brown duck washed up on a lakeshore
Read article: How avian flu is affecting wildlife in Illinois
How avian flu is affecting wildlife in Illinois
In early February, dead birds began washing up on the Chicago lakeshore: red-breasted and common mergansers, Canada geese, and others. In a city...
close up of old jack o'lanterns in a pile
Read article: Don’t trash pumpkins this Halloween: Smash them!
Don’t trash pumpkins this Halloween: Smash them!
Apple cider and crisp fall air call for Halloween festivities and of course, you can’t forget about pumpkins! It would not be an Illinois Halloween...
dried flowers in a garden
Read article: Pollinator tips for fall clean up time
Pollinator tips for fall clean up time
Where did summer go?  It seems like we were just enjoying the sun, imagining all the wonderful produce our gardens would make, and looking...

News Releases

a bee perched on a pink flower
Available prairie seed mixes may fall short for pollinators
URBANA, Ill. — As populations of bees and butterflies decline in the Midwest, native prairie restoration becomes crucial. A new Prairie Research Institute study found, however, that many commercial seed mixes used to conserve and restore prairies may not have enough diversity or spring flowering...
Available prairie seed mixes may fall short for pollinators
URBANA, Ill. — As populations of bees and butterflies decline in the Midwest, native prairie restoration becomes crucial. A new Prairie Research Institute study found, however, that many commercial seed mixes used to conserve and restore prairies may not have enough diversity or spring flowering...
a whitetailed deer running through grass in fall
Hunters Feeding Illinois provides 97,000 meals to Illinois families
URBANA, Ill. — In the 2024-25 hunting season, Hunters Feeding Illinois distributed 25,794 pounds of frozen, ground venison to 54 food pantries across east-central and southern Illinois. This provided an estimated 97,000 meals, reaching nearly 49,800 families.Formerly the Illinois Deer...
A masked man with a headlight holds a bat in gloved hands
Genomic tools provide clearer view of health for endangered bats
URBANA, Ill. — How do wildlife researchers know when an endangered population is sick? They can detect infectious microbes in animal waste, but the presence of a microbe doesn’t always equate to impactful symptomatic infections. In a...

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