‘Winging It' exhibit at Newberry Library shows humanity's relationship to birds — dead and alive

Chicago Tribune

19-06-2025

Although the state bird of Illinois is the northern cardinal, in the 1800s it might have been the greater prairie chicken. The grouse or boomer, as it was known back then, was once the most numerous and notable species in the state.
The birds — which were the size of a chicken, with tan- and white-flecked plumage and an inflatable orange throat pouch on the males — once roamed tallgrass prairies by the millions and were known for the unique booming sound they make as part of their elaborate mating dance.
Hunters killed the birds for meat, shooting or even clubbing the docile birds to death. With the prairie getting plowed under and replaced almost completely by farmland, the prairie chicken lost its habitat, and is nearly extinct in Illinois.
But the prairie chicken is being featured Friday through Sept. 27 at the Newberry Library in Chicago. A documentary on the bird will play as part of a new exhibit, 'Winging It: A Brief History of Humanity's Relationship with Birds.'
The prairie chicken is a classic example of the rise and fall of some species, and how birds have persisted nevertheless, inspiring artwork and science, and playing a crucial role in the local ecosystem.
The Newberry, founded in 1887, is a library, not a museum, so it has manuscripts and artwork rather than objects, but exhibit curator Bob Dolgan culled some unique items to reflect the ways people interacted with birds in North America and Europe over the past several centuries.
The exhibit includes woodblocks of English artist and naturalist Thomas Bewick showing birds in a naturalistic style.
Artist Mark Catesby, who is sometimes compared to famed ornithologist and artist John James Audubon, predated Audubon by nearly a century, and pioneered documenting wildlife in the Americas. Rather than shooting and killing his subjects like Audubon, Catesby painted the birds alive in their natural habitats.
This exhibit will display a rare first edition of Catesby's landmark work 'Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands.'
The show also includes The Sportsman's Gazetteer and General Guide, an 1879 guide to hunting and fishing in eastern North America written by Charles Hallock, founder of what is now Field and Stream magazine.
The library also will team up with the Field Museum to offer professional development for educators called 'Winging It: The Art and Science of Birds' on July 16 and 17.
A public class that will look at the evolution of conservation in the United States as a response to multiple extinctions will be held Aug. 6-27.
There will also be a screening of 'The World of Monty and Rose,' Dolgan's documentary about the famous pair of endangered piping plovers who found love at Chicago's Montrose Beach.
As for the prairie chicken, the Prairie Ridge State Natural Area maintains a habitat of fewer than 200 boomers downstate, and the birds have survived in greater numbers in states farther north and west.
Dolgan hopes 'Winging It' will show visitors how the library's collection lends itself to exploration, and how inspiring and resilient birds can be. He also hopes to show some of the common interest conservationists share with hunters and fishers to restore lost habitat.
'We're the Prairie State, yet we have less than .01% of our prairie remaining,' he said. 'There's a huge opportunity to create more prairie that used to hold dozens of species.'