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

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	A3bc

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Vulnerable	A3bc
2016	Vulnerable	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd
2012	Vulnerable	A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd
2008	Vulnerable	A2b,c,d; A3b,c,d; A4b,c,d
2004	Vulnerable
2000	Vulnerable
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type	continent	Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	237,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	medium	estimated	2015
Population trend	decreasing	good	suspected	1998-2008
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-25%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	30-49%	-	-	-
Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	20-25%	-	-	-
Generation length	5.5 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population is estimated to number 22,000-41,000 individuals (McDonald et al. 2015).

Trend justification: A re-evaluation of population trends by Garton et al. (2016 [per C. Hagen in litt. 2016]) suggests that over the preceding 48 years, there had been a measurable decline in population, but this may not be to the same degree as previously thought. Over that 48 year period it was found that the abundance may have declined on average by 49% at an average rate of annual decline of 1.7% per year (Garton et al. 2016 [per C. Hagen in litt. 2016]). However, most populations of Lesser Prairie-chicken have stabilised or increased as a result of a variety of conservation measures being enacted over recent years (C. Hagen in litt. 2016, Belinda et al. 2017). Conservatively assuming that the annual figures shown above have been continuous over the 48 year period, the rate of decline would roughly equate to 20-25% over the past 3 generations (16.5 years); although given that since 2013 the population is thought to have increased (Belinda et al. 2017), this is likely to be a pessimistic estimate.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
USA	extant	native		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
USA	Cimarron National Grassland
USA	Comanche National Grassland
USA	NM Lesser-Prairie Chicken Complex
USA	Red Hills Region
USA	Yoakum Dunes Preserve

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	major	resident
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Shrubland	Temperate	major	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Medium Impact: 7
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Agro-industry grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching - Small-holder grazing, ranching or farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Droughts	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Whole (>90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Climate change & severe weather	Temperature extremes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Future		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success
Natural system modifications	Fire & fire suppression - Supression in fire frequency/intensity	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Pollution	Agricultural & forestry effluents - Type Unknown/Unrecorded	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation
Transportation & service corridors	Utility & service lines	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Sport hunting/specimen collecting	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Lesser Prairie-chicken Tympanuchus pallidicinctus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lesser-prairie-chicken-tympanuchus-pallidicinctus on 22/12/2024.
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 22/12/2024.