Behold! The Prairie Chicken

The Greater Prairie-Chicken was once found in abundance across much of the American grasslands. Now, the population is less than 500,000 and is losing ground— literally. Our recent work in Wisconsin has helped conserve several tracts of land where the Greater Prairie-Chicken can continue its famous dance.

Photo: Doug Dance/www.ddancenaturephotography.com

Best known for its mating "dance" where the male stomps his feet and lets out a "booming" sound from the orange sacs on the side of his neck, the prairie chicken has a distinguished place in American culture. Maybe you've seen a Native American tribe perform their prairie chicken dance (click on the video to the right to watch) or maybe you remember Laura Ingalls Wilder writing about eating prairie chicken mush in her American classic, "Little House on the Prairie." Greater Prairie-Chickens were once abundant in the Midwest and were a great food source for the growing pioneering population.

Although the prairie chicken may not be famous across the United States, it is well known in the Midwest where it is honored and celebrated. There's the world's largest prairie chicken—a 13-foot tall statue—in the town of Rothsay, the self-proclaimed prairie chicken capital of Minnesota. There's a prairie chicken capital of the world, too: Cassoday, Kansas. Prairie chicken festivals are held throughout the Midwest, perhaps the biggest is the annual Central Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Festival, which is an economic draw for the local community and gives visitors from all over the country a chance to witness the Greater Prairie-Chicken's unusual courting ritual.

Peg Kohring, the Fund's Midwest director, says watching  the prairie chicken dance is on her top 10 list of life experiences: "You would not believe how exciting it is to sit in a prairie chicken blind at dawn with a warm cup of coffee waiting for the birds to boom. Then you hear stamping and raise the blind flap to see this magnificent male prairie chicken filling up the orange pouch on the side of his neck and making the booming sound. While the male is stamping his feet, moving in a circle and showing off, the females nonchalantly walk through the group of males who are doing their best to impress them!"

If the prairie chicken is so beloved, why is there the need for conservation?

Despite having statues and towns honoring them, populations of Greater Prairie-Chickens have declined to near extinction over the past century—primarily because of the conversion of grassland to forestland and farmland. In Wisconsin, they once inhabited every county but are now found in only six counties in the central part of the state. In other states, the population has declined 90 percent or more. Continued loss and fragmentation of habitat threatens the prairie chicken's survival. The absence of natural corridors linking the current fragmented habitat puts breeding—and genetic variance—in jeopardy. (To learn more the importance of natural corridors, visit our Green Infrastructure page.)

In Wisconsin, the plight of the prairie chicken has brought together landowners, public agencies and conservation groups in a widespread effort to protect grassland habitat. In December 2009, we helped with the preservation of two tracts of prime grassland habitat - tallgrass prairie—totaling 883 acres—that lie adjacent to the Buena Vista Wildlife Area in the state’s last stronghold of the famed Greater Prairie-Chicken. The Conservation Fund purchased the land from Blue Top Farms Inc. and plans to transfer ownership to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to manage as habitat for a variety of grassland birds.

Photo credits: Blaine Hansel/Flickr (banner, top); Doug Dance, www.ddancenaturephotography.com (top and right); Minnemom/Flickr, center.