Greater
Sage Grouse, Centrocercus
urophasianus
"The dramatic physiological and behavioral nature of the Sage Grouse has been an inspiration to a wide cross section of people, including Native Americans, naturalists, behavioral ecologists, photographers, and hunters. This species is renowned for its spectacular breeding displays, during which large numbers of males congregate on relatively small lek sites to perform a Strutting Display and to breed with females." Birds of North America Online.
Greater Sage Grouse are found in the sagebrush shortgrass prairie of the American West, a declining habitat. Pictures on this page were taken in 2010 and 2011 in the area of Shaffer Lek, west of I-395 north of Susanville, in northeastern California. The female above was photographed alongside a dirt road not far from the lek; we hope she is flourishing despite the research transmitter-cum-antenna she's wearing.
The males in the pictures below were photographed at the lek in early March mornings from a concealing blind, while they performed the celebrated display ritual. My fellow photographers and I crouched in freezing cold behind a low stone wall for an hour or more between complete darkness and sunrise before we could start taking pictures. It was very much worth it, though the photographs give only a suggestion of the spectacle.
Most of these face-offs end without combat, as one of the male birds withdraws. But not infrequently, they do brief battle, as shown below.
