Breeding Habitat:Grassland
Nest Type:N/A
Migration Status:Permanent resident
Nest Location:N/A
As is true for the other grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse are generally poorly surveyed by the BBS (Sauer et al. 1994). Most BBS routes are surveyed after the males have abandoned their leks, when this species is fairly inconspicuous from roadsides. Many BBS records are chance sightings of individuals or hens with broods, which may not accurately reflect the actual trends of most populations.
Sharp-tailed Grouse are generally recorded in small numbers along BBS routes on the northern Great Plains from the Dakotas and Montana into southern Canada (Relative Abundance Map). The very locally distributed populations in eastern and western North America are generally missed by this survey, and no information is provided on populations in northern Canada. A similar distribution is recorded on CBCs, with the peak abundance on the northern Great Plains from Nebraska into the prairie provinces of southern Canada.
The trend map exhibits a mixed geographic pattern to population trends. Most increases are centered in North Dakota while declines occur within southern Alberta and Saskatchewan (Trend Map). Similar results are reflected in the 1966-1994 trend estimates (Trend List). Significant increases in North Dakota are largely responsible for similar trends in the Central BBS Region and United States. Declines in Saskatchewan and the Aspen Parklands (S30) stratum produced similar trends in Canada and the Western BBS Region. Few significant trends are apparent during the other intervals. Because of their low abundances along most routes, no temporal patterns are apparent in the survey-wide annual indices (Survey-wide Annual Indices). However, populations in Canada markedly declined through the mid- 1970s followed by a more gradual decline subsequently (Canada Annual Indices). In contrast, populations in the Glaciated Missouri Plateau (S38) stratum have increased since the late 1970s, especially after the late 1980s (Glaciated Missouri Plateau Annual Indices).
On CBCs, Sharp-tailed Grouse are generally recorded in variable numbers, reflecting both their flocking behavior during this season as well as the inconsistent effort expended to locate this species on these counts. These variable numbers produce imprecise trend estimates, which should be viewed with considerable caution.
Given the imprecision of the BBS and CBC trend estimates for this species, these results should be viewed cautiously, especially if they contradict data obtained from counts of males on their leks. In general, Sharp-tailed Grouse populations have noticeably declined throughout the U.S. and southern Canada during historic times (Hamerstrom and Hamerstrom 1961). Declines are still apparent in recent decades (Campbell et al. 1990, Miller and Graul 1980). The only exception is in Ontario where its range extended eastward following the clearing of forests (Cadman et al. 1987). This species occupies grasslands interspersed with some brushy cover, and habitat loss resulting from agricultural activities is the primary factor responsible for declines throughout its range.
Cadman, M.D., P.F.J. Eagles, and F.M. Helleiner, eds. 1987. Atlas
of the breeding birds of Ontario. Univ. of Waterloo Press,
Waterloo, ON. 617 pp.
Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggert-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W.
Kaiser, and M.C.E. McNall. 1990. The birds of British
Columbia, Vol. 2. Royal British Columbia Museum. 636 pp.
Hamerstrom, F.N. Jr., and F. Hamerstrom. 1961. Status and
problems of North American grouse. Wilson Bull. 73:284-294.
Miller, G.C., and W.D. Graul. 1980. Status of Sharp-tailed Grouse
in North America. Pp. 18-28 in P.A. Vohs, Jr. and F.L. Knopf,
eds. Proc. Prairie Grouse Symp. Oklahoma State Univ.,
Stillwater, OK.
Sauer, J.R., S. Orsillo, and B.G. Peterjohn. 1994. Population
status and trends of grouse and prairie-chickens from the
North American Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count.
Trans. No. Am. Wildl. & Natur. Resour. Conf 59:439-449.