| Lesser prairie-chicken | |
|---|---|
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| A lesser prairie chicken in New Mexico | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Genus: | Tympanuchus |
| Species: | T. pallidicinctus |
| Binomial name | |
| Tympanuchus pallidicinctus (Ridgway, 1873) | |
 | |
| Lesser prairie-chicken range. [2] [3] | |
| Synonyms | |
Tympanuchus cupido pallidicinctus | |
The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is a species in the grouse family.
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 inches (38 to 41 cm) in length and 22.1 to 28.7 ounces (630 to 810 g) in weight. [4]
About half of its current population lives in western Kansas, with the other half in the sandhills and prairies of western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle including the Llano Estacado, eastern New Mexico, and southeastern Colorado.
Like its larger relative, it is known for its lekking behavior.
Considered "vulnerable" by the IUCN due to its restricted and patchy range, it is vulnerable to habitat destruction. [1] 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.[ citation needed ] There is evidence suggesting that global warming may have a particularly detrimental influence by greatly reducing the size of the sagebrush ecosystem. [5] Subfossil 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 conditions in the outgoing last ice age. Range contraction apparently took place no later than about 8000 BC.[ citation needed ]
On March 27, 2014, the lesser prairie-chicken was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act but the listing was vacated in 2015 following a legal challenge. [6] On June 1, 2021, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) 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. [7] On November 17, 2022, the USFWS published a final rule listing the Southern Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the lesser prairie-chicken as endangered and the Northern DPS as threatened. [8] [9] Implementation of the rule was delayed, and it took effect on March 27, 2023. [10]
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. [11]
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. [11]
The United States Department of the Interior proposed creating a lesser prairie-chicken preserve as a national monument, but action was never taken action on the proposal. [12]
In May 2023, the U.S. Senate voted to strip the lesser prairie-chicken of its new listing using its authority under the Congressional Review Act. President Joe Biden's administration threatened to veto the bill if the House of Representatives passed it, [13] which the House did on July 27. [14] [15] The bill was passed by the Senate, but vetoed by Biden on September 27, 2023. [16]
The northern bobwhite, also known as the Virginia quail or bobwhite quail, is a ground-dwelling bird native to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Cuba, with introduced populations elsewhere in the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. It is a member of the group of species known as New World quail (Odontophoridae). They were initially placed with the Old World quail in the pheasant family (Phasianidae), but are not particularly closely related. The name "bobwhite" is an onomatopoeic derivation from its characteristic whistling call. Despite its secretive nature, the northern bobwhite is one of the most familiar quails in eastern North America, because it is frequently the only quail in its range. Habitat degradation has contributed to the northern bobwhite population in eastern North America declining by roughly 85% from 1966 to 2014. This population decline is apparently range-wide and continuing.
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini, a classification supported by mitochondrial DNA sequence studies, and applied by the American Ornithologists' Union, ITIS, International Ornithological Congress, and others.
The heath hen is an extinct subspecies of the greater prairie chicken, a large North American bird in the grouse family. It became extinct in 1932.
The greater prairie-chicken or pinnated grouse, sometimes called a boomer, is a large bird in the grouse family. This North American species was once abundant, but has become extremely rare and extirpated over much of its range due to habitat loss. Conservation measures are underway to ensure the sustainability of existing small populations. One of the most famous aspects of these creatures is the mating ritual called booming.
The ruffed grouse is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only species in the genus Bonasa.
The greater sage-grouse, also known as the sagehen, is the largest grouse in North America. Its range is sagebrush country in the western United States and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. It was known as simply the sage grouse until the Gunnison sage-grouse was recognized as a separate species in 2000. The Mono Basin population of sage grouse may also be distinct.
The Gunnison grouse, Gunnison sage-grouse or lesser sage-grouse is a species of grouse endemic to the United States. It is similar to the closely related greater sage-grouse 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 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 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.
The yellow-billed cuckoo is a member of the cuckoo family. Common folk names for this bird in the southern United States are rain crow and storm crow. These likely refer to the bird's habit of calling on hot days, often presaging rain or thunderstorms. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kokkuzo, which means to call like a common cuckoo, and americanus means "of America".
The spotted owl is a species of true owl. It is a resident species of old-growth forests in western North America, where it nests in tree hollows, old bird of prey nests, or rock crevices. Nests can be between 12 and 60 metres high and usually contain two eggs. It is a nocturnal owl which feeds on small mammals and birds. Three subspecies are recognized, ranging in distribution from British Columbia to Mexico. The spotted owl is under pressure from habitat destruction throughout its range, and is currently classified as a near-threatened species.
The sharp-tailed grouse, also known as the sharptail or fire grouse, is a medium-sized prairie grouse. One of three species in the genus Tympanuchus, the sharp-tailed grouse is found throughout Alaska, much of Northern and Western Canada, and parts of the Western and Midwestern United States. The sharp-tailed grouse is the provincial bird of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in Kansas. It was established in 1954 for the conservation and management of wildlife resources, particularly migratory birds. The Kirwin Dam was built in the early 1950s near Kirwin, Kansas, and the reservoir created in the process provides water to the refuge.
Attwater's prairie-chicken is a highly endangered subspecies of the greater prairie-chicken that is native to coastal Texas and formerly Louisiana in the United States.
The Western Gulf coastal grasslands are a subtropical grassland ecoregion of the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is known in Louisiana as the "Cajun Prairie", Texas as "Coastal Prairie," and as the Tamaulipan pastizal in Mexico.
Tympanuchus is a small genus of birds in the grouse family. They are commonly referred to as prairie-chickens.
Sage-grouse are grouse belonging to the bird genus Centrocercus. The genus includes two species: the Gunnison grouse and the greater sage-grouse. These birds are distributed throughout large portions of the north-central and Western United States, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the C. minimus species as endangered in 2020 and C. urophasianus as near threatened in 2016.
The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is a subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse native to the Western United States and British Columbia.
Straddling the headwaters of the Minnesota River in west-central Minnesota, Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge is within the heart of the tallgrass prairie's historic range. Today, less than one-percent of tallgrass prairie remains.
A perceptual trap is an ecological scenario in which environmental change, typically anthropogenic, leads an organism to avoid an otherwise high-quality habitat. The concept is related to that of an ecological trap, in which environmental change causes preference towards a low-quality habitat.
The Prairie Ridge State Natural Area is a 4,101-acre (1,660 ha) collaborative natural area managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is managed for the benefit of endangered, threatened, watch list, and area sensitive species associated with the tallgrass prairie habitat of south-central Illinois, especially the greater prairie chicken. The natural area is split between land parcels in Jasper County and Marion County, in the U.S. state of Illinois.
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