Greater Prairie-Chicken

The Greater Prairie-Chicken is a large species of bird in the grouse family. These magnificent birds are known for their remarkable mating dance. Male birds gather in a communal area, called a lek, and perform for watching female birds. The males raise the feathers on their heads, puff out their throat sacs, and dance about while vocalizing.

The habitat for the Greater Prairie-Chicken includes tall grass prairies. Loss of habitat has been devastaing to this species.

There are three known subspecies of Greater Prairie-chicken. The Heath Hen, the nominate subspecies, is extinct. They used to be found along the eastern coast of North America. The Attwater's Prairie-Chicken subspecies is considered to be endangered; today it is found in the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. The historic range for this species included coastal Louisiana. The third subspecies is known as the Greater Prairie Chicken and is considered to be vulnerable to extinction as of January 2015. Its range includes grasslands across parts of the Great Plains and other central parts of the United States.