Tuesday 18 June
Lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)
VULNERABLELesser prairie-chicken fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
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Lesser prairie-chicken description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Galliformes |
| Family | Phasianidae |
| Genus | Tympanuchus (1) |
The lesser prairie-chicken is a gamebird that occupies the American prairies. It is a sandy colour with brown barred markings (2). There are yellow wattles of bare skin above the eyes (3). The red air sacs on the side of the throat are particularly prominent in males, who also have longer neck-plumes (3). The pale colours provide camouflage in the sandy grasslands of their habitat (2).
- Also known as
- lesser prairie chicken.
- Spanish
- Gallo de las Praderas Chico.
-
BirdLife International:
http://www.birdlife.org - Lekking
- A system of mating in which males display collectively in an area known as a lek. Males compete for the best sites within the lek and females then choose whom to mate with on the basis of the display.
-
IUCN Red List (August, 2003)
http://www.redlist.org -
NRCS Wildlife Habitat Management Institute (May, 2007)
http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/HighPlains/leaflet.htm -
Birdlife International (May, 2007)
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=303&m=0 -
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (August, 2003)
https://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=B0AZ - view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
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Related species
Lesser prairie-chicken biology
In April, male lesser prairie-chickens compete for access to females via a lekking system. Males gather in a display ground known as a ‘lek’ and perform elaborate courtship displays before the female selects her mate (2). These displays involve inflating the red throat sacs, raising the neck and tail feathers and making short jumps into the air (2). Following mating, the male takes no further part in the care of his offspring. Females lay a clutch of 12 – 15 eggs in a nest hidden amongst the grass and incubate them for around one month (2).
Lesser prairie-chickens feed on a variety of items including seeds, grain and insects in the warmer months (3). If the winter is particularly harsh, these birds will burrow into the snow to provide warmth (2).
TopLesser prairie-chicken range
The lesser prairie-chicken still occurs in much of its former range including Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico, United States (2). Population numbers have declined by as much as 97% since the beginning of the 19th century (2).
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Species with a similar range
Lesser prairie-chicken habitat
Inhabits prairie grasslands where there is shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) or sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia) (3).
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Species found in a similar habitat
Lesser prairie-chicken status
Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List 2002 (1).
Lesser prairie-chicken threats
The conversion of vast areas of the American plains into farmland has caused the decline of a number of native species, including the lesser prairie-chicken (2). These birds were also hunted in unsustainable numbers in the early 20th century and reduced populations are more vulnerable to extreme weather conditions such as drought (3).
TopLesser prairie-chicken conservation
The lesser prairie-chicken is protected within all states that it occurs in (3), and it is a Candidate Species for listing as Threatened on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Act (4). Research into the causes of recent population declines is being undertaken (2). Reintroduction programmes have also been attempted but so far have proven unsuccessful (3).
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Find out more
For further information on this species see NatureServe:
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Tympanuchus+pallidicinctus
For more information on this and other bird species please see:
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Glossary
References
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Image credit
Adult male lesser prairie-chicken on a lek
© Gerrit Vyn / naturepl.com
Nature Picture Library
5a Great George Street
Bristol
BS1 5RR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 117 911 4675
Fax: +44 (0) 117 911 4699
info@naturepl.com
http://www.naturepl.com
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Listen to the Lesser prairie-chicken
Lesser prairie-chicken recordings by Geoffrey A. Keller
© Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Macaulay Library
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca
New York 14850
United States of America
Tel: +1 (607) 254-2404
Fax: +1 (607) 254-2439
Email: macaulaylibrary@cornell.edu
Website: www.birds.cornell.edu/MacaulayLibrary