Gunnison Sage-Grouse Centrocercus minimus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 22? inches
• Large, rounded-winged, ground-dwelling, chicken-like bird
• Long, pointed tail
• Immature similar to adult female but paler
• Legs are feathered to base of toes
• Recently separated from Greater Sage-Grouse
• Range restricted to southwestern Colorado and nearby southeastern Utah

Adult male:

• Yellow comb over eye
• Blackish-brown throat and v-shaped mark on neck separated by white
• White breast
• Grayish nape, back and upperwings stippled with white
• Black belly
• Two olive-green air sacs inflated when displaying

Adult female:

• Buffy throat with black markings
• Lower throat and breast barred with blackish-brown
• Gray-brown plumage mottled with white and darker brown
• Dark belly

Similar species:

Greater Sage-Grouse very similar but has different range, is somewhat larger with different courtship display. Large size, grayish plumage, long pointed tail, and black belly eliminate all other grouse species.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.