Dahlen Esker, Grand Forks Co., North Dakota, USA Photograph by J.P. Bluemle / North Dakota Geological Survey   Central North America: Southern central Canada into northern United States Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands   29,300 square miles (76,000 square kilometers) -- about the size of South Carolina Critical/Endangered

· Little Animals on the Prairie
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

Little Animals on the Prairie

The Northern Tall Grasslands lie at the northernmost boundary of the North American prairie grasslands and stretch from the Red River Valley in Manitoba to the Agassiz Beach Ridges of northwestern Minnesota. While the big carnivores and herbivores, such as bison, wolves, and coyotes have disappeared, an abundance of small animals and birds thrive. Bird-watchers may catch sight of a burrowing owl guarding her nest on the prairie ground or witness the courting dance of a male great prairie chicken, which inflates his golden neck sac as he calls to attract a mate.

Special Features

As the name of the ecoregion implies, the grasses grow taller here than in the neighboring grasslands. Big bluestem, switchgrass, and Indian grass all favor this drier northern climate. The glacial Lake Agassiz determined much of the makeup of the region. No longer a water-filled lake today, the name describes a topography of ancient beach ridges, dunes, and former lake bottoms. Today's "beaches" contain quaking aspen, oak, and paper birch.

	Burrowing owls nest underground and will call out an alarm that sounds like a rattlesnake when their home is disturbed.

Wild Side

One of the "wildest" animals of this ecoregion may be the loggerhead shrike, a masked bird also known as the "butcher bird," that swoops upon its prey of insects, rodents, and snakes, impaling them on the thorns of nearby plants. The Great Plains wolf became extinct in the 1930s, but its cousin, the gray wolf, still occasionally appears in the tall grasslands. More common though are populations of white-tailed deer, rabbits, and ground squirrels.

Cause for Concern

Only 5 percent of the Northern Tall Grasslands remain intact. The rest has been swallowed up primarily by agriculture and roads. Mining now occurs in the Lake Agassiz beach ridges and dunes. Potato farming in the Sheyenne Delta and drainage of moist prairie lands are also concerns.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.