Prairie Chicken?

[alecvg]

I saw one (and have pics) near Winthrop last week, are these rare?  Never seen one efore.  I don't know anything about upland, is there a season for them?

[bobcat]

It's not a prairie chicken, probably a sharptail grouse. I think the WDFW has been trying to get them reestablished in previously occupied habitat.

[alecvg]

I looked at pics of both, and it looked more like a praire chicken to me... imo

[bobcat]

Well it could either be a sharptail grouse or a sage grouse. Here's some info that might help:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/research/papers/sage_grouse/

[jackelope]

The Greater Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido, is a large bird in the grouse family. This North American species was once abundant, but has become extremely rare or extinct over much of its range due to habitat loss. There are current efforts to help this species gain the numbers that it once had. One of the most famous aspects of these creatures is the mating ritual called booming.

i don't know anything about them either....no season on them that i've ever heard of.

post the pics. are yousure it wasn't a sharptail grouse?

[boneaddict]

Sharptailed are very closely related to the prarie chicken and look most similiar, ESPECIALLY the females.   They have the same mating behavior.  That would be my guess.  otherwise I'd think that somebody's pet got away, kind of like finding a Silver pheasant in the Wenas.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Otherwise I'd think that somebody's pet got away, kind of like finding a Silver pheasant in the Wenas.

Kind of like that male Mearns quail I saw one spring west of Waterville!

[boneaddict]

Yep.....make you do a doubletake?

[jackelope]

...or the peacock in full strut at totem lake a couple years ago..was that yours too?

[boneaddict]

I've had one escape and I found out where he went.....over by JDB's house.     A gal was trying to get rid of some of hers and I had a buyer.   I went there and she told me a story about how this big beautiful one showed up.  Sure as heck it had my band around his leg.  Thats about 12 miles away I guess.   The other ones that got out I put a 22 through their skull.  A man does not need stray peafowl running around in his garden.  That and they get up on the penned up ones cage and drives the caged ones nuts.  NUTS= NOISE

[DOUBLELUNG]

Yep.....make you do a doubletake?

Big time.  Much more so than the Egyptian goose i saw flying up the Yakima west of E-burg!

[jackelope]

that peacock i'm sure came from the chateau st michelle winery. not 12 miles away, but close to that.

[Curly]

It's not a prairie chicken, probably a sharptail grouse. I think the WDFW has been trying to get them reestablished in previously occupied habitat.

How do you know for sure that it could not be a sage grouse?  Alec did not post pics that I'm aware of.

We've seen quite a few sage grouse near Moses Coulee.  I suppose it is possible that there could be sage grouse near Winthrop too.

[bobcat]

I didn't say it wasn't a sage grouse. I said it wasn't a prairie chicken. Two different species. I thought it was probably a sharptail grouse because they look like prairie chickens. Sage grouse do not.

[alecvg]

I will try to post the pics tonight.