Books by Paul A. Johnsgard

Wildlife of Nebraska surveys the variety and biology of Nebraska's terrestrial vertebrates by describing the ecology and biology of the state's birds, its mammals, and its reptiles and amphibians.

A respected author and scholar, Paul A. Johnsgard has spent a lifetime observing the natural delights of Nebraska's woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands. Seasons of the Tallgrass Prairie collects his musings on Nebraska's natural history and the issues of conservation facing our future.

Tells the complex biological and environmental story of the western Great Plains under the black-tailed prairie dog's reign - and then under a brief but devastating century of human dominion. This book recounts how this terrain has in turn been transformed over the past century by the destruction of prairie dogs and their grassland habitats.

Serves as a reference on the wildlife that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered during their 1804-6 Corps of Discovery expedition. This book identifies over one hundred animals and plants that were first described and in some cases discovered by Lewis and Clark. It also examines the lasting importance of the expedition's discoveries.

 With Paul A. Johnsgard, we follow the migration of the sandhill cranes from the American Southwest to their Alaskan breeding grounds and back again, an annual pattern that has persisted over millions of years. By selecting four historic time frames of the migration between 1860 and 1980, Johnsgard illustrates how humans have influenced the flocks and how different American cultures have variously responded to the birds and perceived their value.Each section focuses on the interactions between children of four different American cultures and sandhill cranes, triggered by events occurring during the annual life cycle of the cranes. The story is enriched by the author’s exquisite illustrations, by Zuni prayers, and by Inuit and Pueblo legends. With a new preface and afterword and a new gallery of photographs by the author, Those of the Gray Wind is a classic story of a timeless ritual that can be enjoyed for generations to come.Paul A. Johnsgard is Foundation Regents Professor Emeritus in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He has received conservation and research awards from the National Audubon Society, the American Ornithologists’ Union, the National Wildlife Federation, and other state and national organizations. Johnsgard is the author of more than eighty books on natural history, including Sandhill and Whooping Cranes: Ancient Voices over America’s Wetlands and Seasons of the Tallgrass Prairie: A Nebraska Year, both available in Bison Books editions.

Informational book on sandhill and whooping cranes, and where to view them.

Natural history of the state of Nebraska.

The sandhill crane, most often seen, is within easy reach of bird-watchers in the center of the North American continent. Less visible is the whooping crane, struggling back from near extinction. Introducing these two crane species, this title describes their seasonal migrations, natural habitats, breeding biology, call patterns, and dancing.

Arising in two separate streams high in the Rockies and flowing east across the plains to meet the Missouri near Omaha, Nebraska, the Platte River is a microcosm of the geologic, plant, animal, and human worlds. This work focuses on the central role the Platte has played in shaping Nebraska and its heritage, both human and natural.