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 Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)

Greater Sage-Grouse | Centrocercus urophasianus photo
Greater Sage Grouse (Male), Near Ten Sleep, Wyoming
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved.  (view image details)




Greater Sage-Grouse | Centrocercus urophasianus photo
Greater Sage Grouse (Male), Near Ten Sleep, Wyoming
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved.  (view image details)

Greater Sage-Grouse | Centrocercus urophasianus photo
Greater Sage Grouse (Female), Near Ten Sleep, Wyoming
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved.  (view image details)





GREATER SAGE-GROUSE FACTS
Description
The Sage grouse is a chicken like bird, and is the largest grouse in North American. Males have a dark grey head, black throat and yellow lores. The upper parts of the chest is brown and it has a large white ruff that it can inflate during courtship using inflatable sacs. The wings and bark are brown with some white barring. The tail is long and tapered with barring. Females are mottled gray and brown with less white than males. Females do not have inflatable sacs and have gray and white throat. Females have shorter tails than males.

Size
length 56cm - 75cm. Weight: 1.4kg - 2.9kg.

Environment
plains, mountain slopes and foothills. Found where sagebrush is present.

Food
Leaves, buds, stems, flowers, fruit, insects.

Breeding
The Sage grouse puts on a courting display at a "lek" (display area). After attracting a female, mating takes place on the lek. The female builds a nest a few metres from the lek and lays about 7 or 8 eggs over a 9 day period. Eggs hatch after incubation of about 37 days. The young can fly short distances after about a week. Young remain with their mother until fall.

Range
found from northern Washington and southern Saskatchewan to south western Colorado, south parts of Utah, eastern California and Nevada. Western limit is northern California and eastern limit is the Dakotas.

Conservation Status
The conservation status in the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals is "near threatened".

Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Galliformes
Family:Phasianidae
Genus:Centrocercus
Species:urophasianus
Common Name:Greater Sage-Grouse








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