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From the Field

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  • Juliana Soto

    Following in the footsteps of early 20th century naturalist Elizabeth Kerr

  • cute cuddly brown bat

    What’s the deal with bats and coronavirus?

    In Outdoor Magazine, INHS bat biologist Tara C. Hohoff writes about how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated negative impressions about bats and shares ways we can support bats in Illinois. 

  • Blue and green-winted teal and northern pintail seen on the Illinois River during an aerial waterfowl inventory over Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge in Havana.

    Counting ducks from 500 feet above

    Josh Osborn has a unique job. The Navy veteran turned ecologist leads the waterfowl aerial inventories from the Illinois Natural History Survey's Forbes Biological Station in Havana. Taking to the skies every autumn and spring during migration seasons, Osborn makes regular educated estimates of the number and types of birds flocking along 212 miles of the Illinois River and 214 miles of the Mississippi River.