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Bird name:

Lesser Prairie-Chicken

Tympanuchus pallidicinctus

Order

GALLIFORMES

Family

Turkeys and Grouse (Phasianidae)

Code 4

LEPC

Code 6

TYMPAL

ITIS

175838

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Vulnerable-

The Lesser-Prairie Chicken is native to the United States. This bird species is rated as Vulnerable at this time. This rating is due to a population decline that has been rapidly declining for some time. The primary threats facing this bird species are drought and the loss of habitat. Although some portions of this bird's native range have increased in population, populations in parts of Texas and Oklahoma have continued to decline over the past several years. The Lesser-Prairie Chicken is still considered to be in danger, resulting in the current Vulnerable rating.

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The orange "blossum" replaces the lid of a jelly jar.
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Sliced orange secures easily to the center of the ring. Low cost.
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Hex shaped nectar feeds several Orioles. Nectar kept in fridge.
Charm and Attraction
Lovely copper umbrella keeps fruit cool and looks great.

SUMMARY

Overview

Lesser Prairie-Chicken: Medium, stocky grouse, brown overall with fine white bars. Head has yellow-orange combs over eyes, plumes that can be raised or laid along the neck. Red-orange air sacs on sides of neck inflate during courtship. Tail is short, black, and rounded. Yellow-brown feathered legs.


Range and Habitat

Lesser Prairie-Chicken: Resident in southern Colorado and Kansas, south locally in western Oklahoma, Texas, and eastern New Mexico. Found in sandy grassland areas that have an abundance of midgrass, sandsage, and yucca.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to Call

Lesser Prairie-Chicken

Voice Text

No data available.

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The Lesser Prairie-Chicken was first described in 1873 by Robert Ridgway, an American ornithologist.
  • Subfossil remains are known from Rocky Arroyo in the Guadalupe Mountains, outside the species' current range but where more habitat existed in the less humid conditions in the outgoing last ice age.
  • They disappeared apparently no later than about 8000 BC, soon after the start of human settlement, which may also have contributed to the local extinction.
  • A group of prairie chickens are known collectively as a "little house" and a "pack" of prairie chickens.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Lesser Prairie-Chicken

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Samira Belous

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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PlumesX
Large, conspicuous, showy feathers.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX