The Killdeer or upland plover was noisy and restless and always flying about. It is marked with a white and black ring around its neck and a white band and a black band across its breast. It is always emitting its shrill cry, "killdee, killdee" when rising or alighting, and has a trait of holding or stretching its long wings up above the back when it alights as if to get the wrinkles out before gently folding them.
The long-legged Jacksnipes were always near and wading in the ponds.
The robins and meadowlarks were busily engaged in looking for food.
The Leconie or ground sparrow was common. Its hind head is chestnut and gray. The sides of its head, throat, breast and blanks are a rich buff; its song is a grasshopper-like squeaking; its nest is made of grasses in hollows in the ground on the prairies; its eggs are greenish white, thickly speckled with brown.
The Dakota song sparrow has a brown face and throat of black, a white breast, arid its back is buff; in winter the back areas are mottled with gray. Its song is a series of musical piping whistles. Its eggs are whitish, thickly spotted with brown.
The buffalo or cowbirds- the male is a glossy greenish black with brown heads and the females are a dull gray- were commonly seen, sedately walking about the cattle often perched on their backs. They are the only birds that we have that neither build a nest nor care for their young. The female slyly deposits her eggs in the nest of a small bird when the owner is absent, leaving further care of it to the new owner. These birds become very tame and they have been known to light on a person's shoulder and eat crumbs from their hands.
The snowbirds of winter were ever present in small flocks, and were busy flying about and seeking kernels of grain for food. Many of the settlers adopted the Norwegian custom of placing a sheaf of oats or wheat on a pole in the barnyard for food for their feathered friends.
The prairie chickens were numerous. It was a pretty sight in the early morning to see the males of a large covey congregate, drumming and strutting about emitting their "boom, boom, boom". They had a way of stretching their heads and ruffling their tail feathers so that at a short distance it was impossible to tell which end their heads were on and which way they would go when they began to drum. People often found this good sport to bet on which was the head end of the bird and which way they would go when they started to strut- it was amusing sometimes to see the bird start out in the opposite direction from what was expected and under a delusion that he was backing up. The hens made a noise similar to a lady's laugh.
The grebe, commonly known as the helldiver or swan angel, was common, and always found alone in some secluded spot in a rush bordered slough or pond where it had its, water-soaked nest. Its cry was "sou-pump" and it always lightened its avoirdupois as it rose on the wing.
The coots or mud hens were common around every mud hole or shallow lake. They were not fit for food and were more bold than ducks. The mother coots would often swim about with their brood perched on their backs and when they wanted them to learn to swim they forced them into the water by flapping their wings.
The whooping cranes flew fast and very high and in a straight line. They could glide for long distances without any apparent movement of the wings. Their call was a guttural sound which was heard as distinctly at a distance as when near at hand.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 131