Sharp-Tailed Grouse

     The Sharp-Tailed Grouse is a medium-sized prairie Grouse, also known as the Sharptail, or the Fire Grouse. It’s closely related to the Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chickens, and is typical of regions that have open grassland mixed with groves of trees or shrubs. Although, the Sharp-Tailed grouse is similar in appearance to the Prairie-Chickens, it mainly differs by having dark V-shaped marks on the underparts, elongated central tail feathers, and the color of the air sacs in the male.

     The Sharp-Tailed grouse is a cryptically colored bird, with its upperparts being barred with dark brown, black and buff. Its underparts are white, and the upper belly feathers display small, dark brown V-shaped marks. Both sexes of the Sharp-Tailed grouse have a crescent-shaped, yellowish-orange comb over each eye. The male is heavier than the female, and differs by having dark markings run vertically along the central tail feathers. Also, male Sharp-Tailed grouse have pinkish to pale violet air sacs on the sides of the neck, which are inflated during courtship display.

     The female Sharp-Tailed grouse visits the lekking sites between April and May. She may make up to ten visits to multiple leks before selecting a mate. After mating, the female Sharp-Tailed grouse lays up to 12 eggs, and she incubates them for 21 to 23 days. Young chicks can leave the nest soon after hatching and are able to feed themselves. They can make short flights at age of 1-2 weeks, but aren’t full-grown for several more weeks.

     There are currently six recognized subspecies for the Sharp-Tailed grouse which are distributed along Alaska, southwestern parts of Canada and down to New Mexico. The northern subspecies are generally darker in color while the southern subspecies are paler.