But as more and more prairies were lost, prairie chickens began to disappear. Less than 1,000 survive in the state, and based on current trends, they will become extinct from Missouri by the year 2009. Prairie State Park provides habitat to approximately 75 birds, one of the largest remaining single populations of the greater prairie chicken. The golden blooms of the large-flowered coreopsis can be enjoyed in late May and June while purple prairie phlox is in flower throughout both months. DNR photo by Nick Decker.
Every season offers different opportunities to explore prairie life.
Spring is announced by the boom of the prairie chicken. Pumpkin-colored bison calves are born, while birds, such as the eastern meadowlark, sing courtship songs and weave grass into beautiful nests. Ornate box turtles and slender glass lizards wake from their winter sleep and emerge from the soil. New plant life pushes through last year's old growth. The landscape turns into a sea of green, speckled with red, purple and cream-colored blossoms of Indian paintbrush, wild hyacinth and wild indigo.