Sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus)

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The Sharp-tailed Grouse is one of four species of North American grouse that inhabit a broad range of plant communities dominated by grasses and shrubs where males engage in communal breeding displays. Historically this species was found in steppe, grassland, and mixed-shrub habitats throughout much of central and northern North America. Although it still ranges from the Great Lake states west to Alaska and south to Colorado, its numbers have declined greatly in the southern and eastern portions of its historical range, and many populations now depend on cropland to varying degrees. In all habitats, this species consumes a variety of forbs, fruits, grains, buds, and insects. Most of our knowledge of the Sharp-tailed Grouse comes from populations in the United States and southern Canada. Little is known about this species in more northern portions of its range. Because of extensive habitat changes, most southern populations now occupy smaller portions of their historical range, and many populations may still be declining. Exceptions are populations associated with agricultural lands in the United States that were planted with grasses and forbs under the government-sponsored Conservation Reserve Program. This species account provides the known information about the Sharp-tailed Grouse's life history, including distribution, migration, habitat, food habits, sounds, behavior, and breeding. Conservation and management, as well as priorities for future research, are also discussed.

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Location: This record is for the online (http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/354) version; a note is also posted in the ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology: Birds. (Note also that the original BNA printing in 1998 should be housed in the Wildlife Bureau, reference shelves, in the black-boxed BNA collection.) (BNA notes that the online version is living and can be revised at any time, but so far [early 2016], a significant revision usually results in a date change, as well as the addition of new authors.)

Recommended citation: Connelly, J. W., M. W. Gratson and K. P. Reese. 1998. Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/354. doi:10.2173/bna.354.

SWAP (2/19/2016) citation:
Connelly JW, Gratson MW, Reese KP. 1998. Sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus). The Birds of North America Online. (Poole A, editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. [accessed 2015 Nov 19]. http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/354.Connelly JW, MW Gratson and KP Reese. 1998. Sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus). The Birds of North America Online. (Poole A, editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. [accessed 2015 Nov 19]. http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/354