The lesser prairie chicken (''Tympanuchus pallidicinctus'') is a species in the grouse family.

Description

It is a medium to large bird, striped white and brown, slightly smaller and paler than its near relative the greater prairie chicken (''T. cupido''). Adults range from 15.0 to 16.1 in (38-41 cm) in length and 22.1-28.7 oz (628-813 g) in weight.

Distribution

About half of its current population lives in western Kansas, with the other half in the sandhills and prairies of western

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, the Texas Panhandle including the

Llano Estacado The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...

eastern New Mexico Eastern New Mexico is a physiographic subregion within the U.S. state of New Mexico. The region is sometimes called the "High Plains," or "Eastern Plains (of New Mexico)," and was historically referred to as part of the "Great American Desert". The ...

, and southeastern Colorado.

Behavior

Like its larger relative, it is known for its lekking behavior.

Conservation

Considered "vulnerable" by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

due to its restricted and patchy range, it is vulnerable to habitat destruction. The lesser prairie chicken's habitat has been reduced by 85%, and their population has declined by as much as 99% in some ecoregions as a result. Of the remaining patches of suitable habitat, only around 0.1% are sufficiently contiguous to sustain even a minimum population of the birds. There is evidence suggesting that global warming may have a particularly detrimental influence by greatly reducing the size of the sagebrush ecosystem.

Subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

remains are known, e.g., from Rocky Arroyo in the Guadalupe Mountains, outside the species' current range but where more habitat existed in the less

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depen ...

conditions in the outgoing last ice age. Range contraction apparently took place no later than about 8000 BC. In 2015, Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan) introduced an amendment to legislation authorizing construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline that would overturn the listing. He disputed the listing as, "... another example of unnecessary intrusion into private lives and businesses by the federal government." His action was supported by the American Energy Alliance and opposed by the League of Conservation Voters. Sheppard, Kate. "Keystone, Meet The Grouse Wars". ''Huffington Post''. January 28, 2015.
November 19, 2015. When the Senate voted on the Keystone bill, it did not get the 60 votes in favor that was required to pass. It got only 53 Republican and one Democratic Senator to vote in favor. The United States Department of the Interior proposed creating a Lesser Prairie Chicken Preserve as a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

, but action was never taken action on the proposal.

Threatened and endangered species listings

On March 27, 2014, the lesser prairie chicken was listed as threatened under the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

but the listing was vacated in 2015 following a legal challenge. On June 1, 2021, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed splitting the species into two segments. The northern one, covering Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and a portion of Texas, would be listed as threatened, and the southern one, covering New Mexico and a portion of Texas, as endangered. On November 17, 2022, the lesser prairie chicken conservation status was updated to endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Southern Distinct Population Segments (DPS) of the lesser prairie-chicken of the lesser prairie-chicken lists the species as endangered while the Northern DPS of the lesser prairie-chicken still lists it as threatened.

References

External links

BirdLife Species FactsheetAudubon Watchlist - Lesser Prairie ChickenLesser Prairie-Chicken videos
on the Internet Bird Collection Grouse Tympanuchus Endemic birds of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Birds described in 1873 Taxa named by Robert Ridgway {{Galliformes-stub