• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Justification of Red List category
This species has undergone rapid population declines in the past, and it has already disappeared from many states in which it was formerly common. As a result of intensive conservation action however, the species is now recovering at least in parts of its range. If conservation action was to stop, the population increase could quickly revert so that the species could qualify for a threatened status within a short time. Consequently it is listed as Near Threatened.

Population justification
The global population is estimated to number 360,000 mature individuals (Partners in Flight 2019).

Trend justification
Data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey show that the species has undergone a non-significant annual increase of 7.79% between 2007 and 2017 (Pardieck et al. 2018). Assuming that population trends continue at a similar rate to the present day, the species was likely stable or increasing over the past ten years. Long-term trends (1966-2017) from Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count however show an annual decline of 0.87% in this species. This would equate to a reduction of 8.4% over ten years. It is here precautionarily assumed that the positive short-term trends are a result of targeted conservation action, including translocations, habitat restoration and local hunting bans (Bateson et al. 2014; Hardy et al. 2017; Adkins et al. 2019; Johnson et al. 2020), without which the species would rapidly meet the threshold for listing as threatened.

Tympanuchus cupido is restricted to prairie intermixed with cropland, primarily in the mid-western states of the USA. The three recognised subspecies vary in status: the Heath Hen T. c. cupido is extinct, and the Attwater's Prairie Hen T. c. attwateri is restricted to small portions of south-east Texas (numbering under 1,000 in the mid-1990s [del Hoyo et al. 1994]) (Schroeder and Robb 1993) and under 70 individuals in the 2010's [M. Morrow per Johnson et al. 2020). The Greater Prairie-chicken (T. c. pinnatus) is extinct or in danger of extinction in 15 states, but numerous enough to be legally hunted in four states (Schroeder and Robb 1993), with the largest remaining populations in Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota (del Hoyo et al. 1994). In recent years the species has extended its non-breeding range northward into Canada (D. Svedarsky in litt. 2019)

Although once abundant in native prairie intermixed with oak Quercus spp. woodland, as prairie and woodland habitats were converted to cropland it had to adapt to agricultural habitats (Schroeder and Robb 1993; del Hoyo et al. 1994). Areas of native vegetation are still required for roosting and breeding, and for displaying males which will select lek sites with short grass, usually on elevated ground (Hovick et al. 2015). Most nest sites are in open, grassy habitats such as ungrazed meadows or hayfields (del Hoyo et al. 1994).

Loss of prairie habitat through conversion to cropland was primarily responsible for the extinction of T. c. cupido and declines in the other two subspecies. Grazing pressure from sheep and the increase in cropland throughout areas of native prairie is threatening the remaining population of T. c. attwateri in Texas. Habitat fragmentation leading to isolated populations and a loss of genetic variance and subsequent decreases in fertility will reduce fitness and reinforce negative demographic trends (Westemeier et al. 1998). In certain states hunting continues (Schroeder and Robb 1993). The species may suffer from competition with Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus (del Hoyo et al. 1994). Noise from roads and wind turbines were found to negatively affect the propagation distance of boom calls at leks (Raynor et al. 2017).

Conservation Actions Underway
Most management effort has been directed toward improvement of habitat. Effective strategies have included manipulation of grazing pressure, control of burning and establishment of reserves. Removal of encroaching eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) trees has been identified as an essential activity for population survival (McNew et al. 2012; Raynor et al. 2019). Population reintroduction may be necessary to expand its distribution, particularly where there are no dispersal corridors between occupied and unoccupied habitats (Roy and Gregory 2019), but so far it has had mixed success (Schroeder and Robb 1993; Roy and Gregory 2019). Hunting legislation has frequently been used to protect populations, with mixed success - both T. c. cupido and attwateri were protected. Legislation has been more effective with T. c. pinnatus, perhaps because of its large and diverse distribution (Schroeder and Robb 1993). Lek density was found to be substantially higher in grasslands and wetlands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program scheme (Adkins et al. 2019). Translocations led to a significant increase in mtDNA diversity (Bateson et al. 2014), while population reinforcement lowered the site-specific extinction probabilities (Hardy et al. 2017).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue to monitor population trends. Monitor rates of habitat loss and degradation within the species's range. In remaining tallgrass prairie, infrequent burning and grazing (i.e., patch-burn grazing) shows promise for enhancing survival by providing habitat at nesting, brooding and wintering life stages (Winder et al. 2017; Londe et al. 2019). Strictly control hunting, and if survival is confirmed to be higher in unhunted populations, consider banning hunting of the species. Retain/restore corridors of suitable habitat between populations to facilitate dispersal and reduce the stresses associated with a loss of genetic variation. Removal of Ring-necked Pheasants Phasianus colchicus may reduce interspecific competition (del Hoyo et al. 1994).

43 cm. Stocky, uniformly barred brown grouse. Almost entire brown plumage barred with paler stripes. Both sexes have obvious dark eye-stripe and pale throats. Both also show elongated pinnae (adapted neck feathers) - the males being especially long and erected over the head during display, at which time yellow air sacs in the neck and above the eye are inflated. Similar species Range does not overlap with Lesser Prairie-chicken which has a diagnostic reddish-purple neck sac. Hint Watch for displaying males at dawn from discrete distance at known leks.

Text account compilers
Hermes, C., Everest, J.

Contributors
Bird, J., Butcher, G., Harding, M., Rosenberg, K., Svedarsky, D., Symes, A., Wege, D. & Wells, J.

---

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Greater Prairie-chicken Tympanuchus cupido. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/greater-prairie-chicken-tympanuchus-cupido on 26/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/12/2024.