Sage Grouse

Remember prairie chickens? We saw them at the beginning of our Colorado trip. But we closed the trip with something even more spectacular - the Sage Grouse mating grounds.

Here is a Sage Grouse in full come-hither display:


Similar to the prairie chickens, they inflate the air sacs on their neck, which  make low booming sounds. But the grouse being bigger and fluffier, their displays look more impressive:


Let's look at the whole sequence:
















All that posturing is to attract one of these beauties:


They seem so happy together!


The Sage Grouse lek is huge, with more than 50 birds:




One male, two females - dilemma.


Even from the behind, the male looks spectacular.


This is what the male looks like when not puffed up.


Another look at the female:


Why did the grouse cross the road?


As a closer, another look at the booming sequence:

Spring Chickens

Late March and April is booming time on the prairie. Prairie chickens - close relative of grouse - start their mating displays.



They come together in areas with low grass called leks (Swedish for "play"), where between 10 and 40 males will dance and make booming noises in the hopes of attracting some female company.


Before any females show up, there is a lot of posturing at the lek...


... sometimes slipping into outright aggression:




The male display consists of inflating the air sacs on the side of their neck, and raising the neck feathers called pinnae. They also stomp their feet, and make low booming noises that are heard for miles around.


In their regular profile, the air sac is barely visible, and the pinnae are folded on the back of the beck.

But even the best displays are useless if no females show up...


And here they are! A sole female walks into the center of the lek.


The males all go nuts, but the female keeps her regal cool. Notice a second female in the background.


Only a few dominant males will mate. For the rest of them, it's time to deflate and try again tomorrow.

There are two species of prairie chickens - the Greater and the Lesser. The ones in these pictures are all Greater. They are both listed as Vulnerable on the endangered species scale.


While the Greater Prairie Chickens are still fairly widespread, the Lesser are declining rapidly. I don't have any good pictures of it. The place we went to see them held a sizable lek in 2017. But by the time we visited in 2018, the lek was no longer there. We eventually did see one Lesser chicken by sheer luck, but it's sad to see firsthand how rapidly they are disappearing.