"I was basically a hunting-fishing guy," says Dr. Gerald Niemi, co-author of The Breeding Birds of Minnesota, a 2024 publication by the University of Minnesota Press. "I put a pair of binoculars on and started looking at birds, and I just fell in love with it. It's been my passion ever since."
The hefty tome is the result of years of work, and is a collaboration of researchers and photographers. "We really started this project in 2007," says Niemi. At that time, Minnesota was one of only six states in the US that did not have a source of this kind. Upon receiving financial support for the initial years of research, the project took flight.
The book offers documentation for individual species, while also focusing on the history, ecology, and conservation regarding these birds. "We identify the stresses and the threats that are affecting these 250 species, and we summarize the climate change data as well."
The Breeding Birds of Minnesota is being made available at most local bookstores and can be purchased through the University of Minnesota Press website. Additionally, the authors will be hosting a talk and book signing at the Kathryn A. Martin Library Rotunda on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus on Thursday, May 30th from 12-2pm. The event is free to the public.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
