29-533: The Gunnison grouse , Gunnison sage-grouse or lesser sage-grouse ( Centrocercus minimus ) is a species of grouse endemic to the United States . It is similar to the closely related greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ) in appearance, but about a third smaller in size, with much thicker plumes behind the head; it also has a less elaborate courtship dance. It is restricted in range to southwestern Colorado and extreme southeastern Utah , with
58-481: A drum"; it refers to the membranous neck sacks and the drum-like call of the greater prairie chicken. The two prairie chickens are particularly closely related and look extremely similar. But their taxonomy and the evolutionary relationships of the Tympanuchus is yet to be discovered. There is still unknown information about these genera. But one thing we do know is that Tympanuchus are polyphyletic. They have
87-501: A few males do most of the breeding. Males perform on leks for several hours in the early morning and evening during the spring. Leks are generally open areas adjacent to dense sagebrush stands, and the same lek may be used by grouse for decades. This species is in decline because of loss of habitat ; their range has shrunk. Following petitions, the species was proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act by
116-526: A group of birds from the order Galliformes , in the family Phasianidae . Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae ), a classification supported by mitochondrial DNA sequence studies, and applied by the American Ornithologists' Union , ITIS , International Ornithological Congress , and others. Grouse inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of
145-508: A male defends a territory which has resources that females need, like food and nest sites. These differences in male behavior in mating systems account for the evolution of body size in grouse. Males of territorial species were smaller than those of exploded lekking species, and males of typical lekking species were the largest overall. The male birds that exhibit lekking behavior, and have to compete with other males for females to choose them, have greater sexual dimorphism in size. This suggests
174-453: A record low for the species since surveys began. Gunnison sage-grouse occur in seven counties in southwestern Colorado and one county in southeastern Utah. It was once found in Arizona , New Mexico , and Oklahoma , but is now extirpated in those states. Males gather on the lek or strutting grounds, which are small, open areas where breeding occurs, in late February to April, as soon as
203-412: A separate species is supported by a molecular study of genetic variation, showing that gene flow between the large-bodied and the small-bodied birds is absent. Gunnison sage-grouse are notable for their elaborate courtship rituals. Each spring, males congregate on leks and perform a "strutting display". Groups of females observe these displays and select the most attractive males with which to mate. Only
232-889: Is a crucial component of the adult's diet year-round, and they select sagebrush almost exclusively for cover. However, in order to rear a brood of chicks, the young require high protein broadleaved plants and wildflowers that bring insects, also for protein. However, cattle and sheep also relish these plants, and the removal of these critical chick-food plants is a major reason for this bird's decline. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from Centrocercus minimus . United States Department of Agriculture . Grouse Pucrasia Meleagris Bonasa Tetrastes Centrocercus Dendragapus Tympanuchus Lagopus Falcipennis Canachites Tetrao Lyrurus and see text Tetraonidae Vigors , 1825 Tetraoninae Vigors, 1825 Grouse / ɡ r aʊ s / are
261-420: Is a shallow depression or scrape on the ground—often in cover—with a scanty lining of plant material. The female lays one clutch , but may replace it if the eggs are lost. She begins to lay about a week after mating and lays one egg every day or two; the clutch comprises five to 12 eggs. The eggs have the shape of hen's eggs and are pale yellow, sparsely spotted with brown. On laying the second-last or last egg,
290-684: Is a small genus of birds in the grouse family. They are commonly referred to as prairie-chickens . The genus Tympanuchus was introduced in 1841 by the German zoologist Constantin Wilhelm Lambert Gloger for the greater prairie chicken . The name combines the Ancient Greek tumpanon meaning "kettle-drum" with ēkheō meaning "to sound". The genus contains three species: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] All three are among
319-542: Is called sexual dimorphism . Male grouse tend to be larger than female grouse, which seems to hold true across all the species of grouse, with some difference within each species in terms of how drastic the size difference is. The hypothesis with the most supporting evidence for the evolution of sexual dimorphism in grouse is sexual selection. Sexual selection favors large males; stronger selection for larger size in males leads to greater size dimorphism. Female size will increase correspondingly as male size increases, and this
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#1732802132700348-509: Is due to heredity (but not to the extent of the male size). This is because females that are smaller will still be able to reproduce without a substantial disadvantage, but this is not the case with males. The largest among the male grouse (commonly dubbed 'Biggrouse') attract the greatest numbers of females during their mating seasons. Male grouse display lekking behavior, which is when many males come together in one area and put on displays to attract females. Females selectively choose among
377-610: The Northern Hemisphere , from pine forests to moorland and mountainside , from 83°N ( rock ptarmigan in northern Greenland ) to 28°N ( Attwater's prairie chicken in Texas ). The turkeys are closely allied with grouse, but they have traditionally been excluded from Tetraonini, often placed in their own tribe, subfamily, or family; certain more modern treatments also exclude them. Later phylogenomic analyses demonstrated conclusively that they are sister to
406-621: The United States Fish and Wildlife Service , and was eventually protected as a threatened species starting on December 22, 2014. The known population size of this species remains quite small, and it was estimated that fewer than 4,000 individuals existed in when the species was successfully protected under the Act. A 2019 survey found the population in Colorado to be reduced to an estimated 1,800 birds with only around 429 reproductive males,
435-490: The ptarmigans , have legs which are entirely covered in feathers; in winter the toes, too, have feathers or small scales on the sides, an adaptation for walking on snow and burrowing into it for shelter. Unlike many other galliforms, they typically have no spurs , although turkeys do possess very prominent spurs. Grouse feed mainly on vegetation—buds, catkins , leaves, and twigs—which typically accounts for over 95% of adults' food by weight. Thus, their diets vary greatly with
464-756: The red grouse and the ruffed grouse have benefited from habitat management. Most grouse species are listed by the IUCN as "least concern" or "near threatened", but the greater and lesser prairie chicken are listed as "vulnerable" and the Gunnison grouse is listed as "endangered". Some subspecies, such as Attwater's prairie chicken and the Cantabrian capercaillie , and some national and regional populations are also in danger. The wild turkey precipitously declined before returning to abundance, even in developed areas. The phenotypic difference between males and females
493-404: The female starts 21 to 28 days of incubation. Chicks hatch in dense, yellow-brown down and leave the nest immediately. They soon develop feathers and can fly shortly before they are two weeks old. The female (and the male in the willow grouse) stays with them and protects them until their first autumn, when they reach their mature weights (except in the male capercaillies ). They are sexually mature
522-581: The following spring, but often do not mate until later years. Grouse make up a considerable part of the vertebrate biomass in the Arctic and Subarctic. Their numbers may fall sharply in years of bad weather or high predator populations—significant grouse populations are a major food source for lynx , foxes , martens , and birds of prey . The three tundra species have maintained their former numbers. The prairie and forest species have declined greatly because of habitat loss, though popular game birds such as
551-456: The ground at dawn and dusk, which in some are given in leks . The displays feature males' brightly colored combs and in some species, brightly colored inflatable sacs on the sides of their necks. The males display their plumage , give vocalizations that vary widely between species, and may engage in other activities, such as drumming or fluttering their wings, rattling their tails, and making display flights. Occasionally, males fight. The nest
580-411: The hypothesis of sexual selection affecting male body size and also gives an explanation for why some species of grouse have a more drastic difference between male and female body size than others. Sexual size dimorphism can manifest itself differently between grouse and other birds. In some cases, the female is dominant over the male in breeding behavior, which can result in females that are larger than
609-459: The largest grouse species, attaining lengths of 130 cm (50 in) and weighing up to 10 kg (22 lb). Male grouse are larger than females, and can be twice as heavy in the western capercaillie (the largest of the traditional grouse). Like many other galliforms, males often sport incredibly elaborate ornamentation, such as crests, fan-tails, and inflatable, brightly colored patches of bare skin. Many grouse have feathered nostrils, and some species, such as
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#1732802132700638-520: The largest population residing in the Gunnison Basin region in Colorado. Despite being native to a country where the avifauna is relatively well known, it was overlooked until the 1990s due to the similarities with the sage grouse, and only described as a new species in 2000—making it the first new avian species to be described from the USA since the 19th century. The description of C. minimus as
667-436: The lek is relatively free of snow. Only a few dominant males, usually two, breed. After mating, the hen leaves the lek for the nesting grounds. Clutch size ranges from six to eight eggs; incubation time is 25 to 27 days. Sage-grouse apparently have high rates of nest desertion and nest predation. Chicks are precocial and can feed themselves. Gunnison sage-grouse are totally dependent on sagebrush -dominated habitats. Sagebrush
696-425: The males present for traits they find more appealing. Male grouse exhibit two types: typical lekking and exploded lekking. In typical lekking, males display in small areas defending a limited territory, and in exploded lekking, displaying males are covered over an expansive land area and share larger territories. Male grouse can also compete with one another for access to female grouse through territoriality, in which
725-762: The males. Grouse are game , and hunters kill millions each year for food, sport, and other uses. In the United Kingdom, this takes the form of driven grouse shooting . The male black grouse 's tail feathers are a traditional ornament for hats in areas such as Scotland and the Alps . Folk dances from the Alps to the North American prairies imitate the displays of lekking males. Tympanuchus Tympanuchus cupido Tympanuchus pallidicinctus Tympanuchus phasianellus Pedioecetes Tympanuchus
754-615: The most social, forming flocks of up to 100 in winter. All grouse spend most of their time on the ground, though when alarmed, they may take off in a flurry and go into a long glide. Most species stay within their breeding range all year, but make short seasonal movements; many individuals of the ptarmigan (called rock ptarmigan in the US) and willow grouse (called willow ptarmigan in the US) migrate hundreds of kilometers. In all but one species (the willow ptarmigan ), males are polygamous . Many species have elaborate courtship displays on
783-667: The seasons. Hatchlings eat mostly insects and other invertebrates , gradually reducing their proportion of animal food to adult levels. Several of the forest-living species are notable for eating large quantities of conifer needles, which most other vertebrates refuse. To digest vegetable food, grouse have big crops and gizzards , eat grit to break up food, and have long intestines with well-developed caeca in which symbiotic bacteria digest cellulose . Forest species flock only in autumn and winter, though individuals tolerate each other when they meet. Prairie species are more social, and tundra species (ptarmigans, Lagopus ) are
812-464: The smaller grouse, from 40 to 43 cm (16 to 17 in) in length. They are found in North America in different types of prairie . In courtship display on leks , males make hooting sounds and dance with the head extended straight forward, the tail up, and colorful neck sacks inflated (shown in the photograph at upper right). Tympanuchus comes from Ancient Greek roots and means "holding
841-622: The traditionally-defined grouse, and they, along with the somewhat earlier-diverging koklass pheasant , may be treated as grouse (i.e., as basal members of the Tetraonini). This is reflected in some more recent circumscriptions. Like many other galliforms, grouse are generally heavily-built birds. The traditional grouse (excluding turkeys) range in length from 31 to 95 cm (12 to 37 + 1 ⁄ 2 in), and in weight from 0.3 to 6.5 kg ( 3 ⁄ 4 to 14 + 1 ⁄ 4 lb). If they are included, wild turkey toms are
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