I love when an animal is described as “Greater” in its name – not Great, not Greatest, just… Greater. I know this means “larger” in animal naming conventions but it always leads me to ask… greater than what? The Greater Prairie-chicken, also known as the pinnated grouse, once lived on vast “booming grounds” – their territorial mating areas – across the eastern two thirds of the United States. Sadly they do not like modern human development. One study in Kansas found that they would not nest within a quarter mile of a power line or a third of a mile from a road. As a result, Euro-American development in the 20th century had a serious impact on their population. The variety that lived on the East Coast is now extinct, and populations elsewhere had precipitous drops. In 1973, only 600 of the birds still lived in their traditional homeland of northeastern Colorado. Through careful management of the land and in partnership with landowners,
115: Greater Prairie-chicken
115: Greater Prairie-chicken
115: Greater Prairie-chicken
I love when an animal is described as “Greater” in its name – not Great, not Greatest, just… Greater. I know this means “larger” in animal naming conventions but it always leads me to ask… greater than what? The Greater Prairie-chicken, also known as the pinnated grouse, once lived on vast “booming grounds” – their territorial mating areas – across the eastern two thirds of the United States. Sadly they do not like modern human development. One study in Kansas found that they would not nest within a quarter mile of a power line or a third of a mile from a road. As a result, Euro-American development in the 20th century had a serious impact on their population. The variety that lived on the East Coast is now extinct, and populations elsewhere had precipitous drops. In 1973, only 600 of the birds still lived in their traditional homeland of northeastern Colorado. Through careful management of the land and in partnership with landowners,