Prairie-chicken and sage grouse

Grouse leks are one of the most interesting things to see in the North in spring. Some of them exist for centuries. Males dance and occasionally fight there. Nebraska National Forest, Nebraska. Sharp-tailed grouse visit leks from late February to early June, later in the North. They start dancing before sunrise, and continue for 2-4 hours. Nebraska National Forest, Nebraska.

All five have communal dancing grounds, or leks, including the most widespread species, the sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus). Six subspecies of this beautiful bird inhabit all kinds of open spaces from interior Alaska to Quebec, and from Yukon to Colorado. Sharp-tailed grouse has lost a lot of habitat, especially in the southern part of its range, but is still common in many areas. Like all other "open-space" grouse, it's a shy bird, difficult to see away from leks.

Females usually attend leks only at the height of the breeding season. They mostly stay at the periphery of the lek, and serve as sentinels. Nebraska National Forest, Nebraska. In all five "open-space" grouse species of North America, males have inflatable vocal sacs - "bubbles" of skin on the neck, serving as sound amplifiers. Nebraska National Forest, Nebraska.

Prairie-chicken leks are easy to locate: their booming "oo-loo-woo" calls are louder than low "oo-woo" calls and cackling of sharp-tails, and can be heard miles away. Grand Island, Nebraska. Lekking includes a lot of "booming", running, jumping in the air, and chasing each other, but very little fighting. The choice of mates is up to the females. Grand Island, Nebraska.

The two species of prairie-chicken were less lucky. Greater prairie-chicken (T. cupido) has lost 70% of its historic range. The eastern race, known as heather hen (T. c. cupido), which once inhabited meadows and prairies of northeastern United States, is now extinct. Texas race (T. c. attwateri) numbers less than a thousand. The western subspecies (T. c. pinnatus) is doing slightly better - it still can be seen in many parts of the Great Plains, especially in Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.

In addition to vocal sacs, males of all five species have decorative feathers. Almost invisible most of time, they completely change a bird's appearance during lekking. Grand Island, Nebraska. Although prairie-chicken and sharp-tailed grouse are birds of open areas, they use trees as shelter, lookouts, and source of food - buds and seeds. Attwater Prairie-Chicken Reserve, Texas.

Lesser prairie-chicken are smaller and paler. Males have pink, not golden, vocal sacs. Their calls are higher pitched. They prefer more arid habitats. Comanche Nat'l Grassland, Colorado. Prairie-chicken leks are usually active from late March to late May. In some areas they form mixed leks with the sharp-tails, and hybridize frequently. Comanche Nat'l Grassland.

Lesser prairie-chicken (T. pallidicinctus) is more local. It only occurs in a small area of shortgrass prairie in Oklahoma and adjacent states - less than 10% of its original range. The reasons for prairie-chicken decline include habitat loss, pesticide use, overhunting, overgrazing, disturbance at leks, and competition with introduced ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). Pheasant hens sometimes overtake prairie-chicken nests.

Leks are usually located in open areas, where the birds can easily spot approaching predators. Such places can be scarce in agricultural landscapes, and easily disturbed. Comanche Nat'l Grassland. Many ancient leks have been abandoned due to disturbance by birdwatchers. Always arrive at a lek before midnight, stay in a car or a blind, and be absolutely quiet. Comanche Nat'l Grassland.

Sage grouse leks are even more spectacular than those of smaller grouse species. They are active March to May, when high desert mornings are often freezing. Biscar Wildlife Area, California. Males produce deep, bubbling sounds, that carry very far and can be heard from miles away. Unlike prairie-chicken. They hold individual territories on leks. Biscar Wildlife Area, California.

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are twice as large as prairie-chicken (which doesn't prevent them from hybridizing occasionally). They inhabit the Great Basin and other sagebrush deserts from extreme southwestern Canada to eastern California. Recently, American ornithologists were subjected to a shocking surprise: some populations of this well-known bird were found to be a separate, very distinct species, Gunnison sage grouse (C. minimus).

Gunnison sage grouse are smaller and darker than greater sage grouse, with a different array of decorative figures. Their dances and calls are also very different. Waunita Hot Springs, Colorado. This rare species is confined to a few isolated intermontane valleys of the Southern Rockies. Currently, the largest surviving population is in Gunnison Valley of Central Colorado.

Grouse nests and chicks suffer a lot from predation and bad weather, but adult birds have few natural enemies. They are not easy to catch, even at leks. Waunita Hot Springs, Colorado.

Blue grouse inhabits mountain forests of the West. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado. Like most forest grouse, blue grouse doesn't have group leks. Instead, males dance alone. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado. Like their subarctic relatives, the spruce grouse (Falcipennis), blue grouse are very tame. Spanish Peaks, Colorado.

Despite looking so differently, all five species of "open-space" grouse are probably closely related. Their vocal sacs are unique among gallinaceous birds. The only other species to have them is the blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus), a common bird of the Cascade the Rocky Mountains from Yukon to New Mexico. It is apparently an evolutionary link between "open-space" grouse and their forest relatives. It is also known to hybridize with sage and sharp-tailed grouse in the wild. All grouse species can hybridize in the wild, and all look very similar, except for adult males with their decorative plumage. My personal opinion is that they should all be merged into a single genus, Tetrao.

Blue grouse' vocal sacs are colorful: purple in the Rockies birds, and golden in the Cascades race. Those vocal sacs produce booming sounds, but they are far less loud than in prairie species. Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado. This lack of fear can get them into trouble in areas where they are hunted or have to cross roads. Spanish Peaks, Colorado.

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