A male Sharp-tailed Grouse [click to see larger] I have never seen Sharp-tailed Grouse, so since I was going to be in in Nebraska to photograph cranes I made reservations with Calamus Outfitters in central Nebraska near Burwell to go out in a blind before sunrise to photograph the Sharp-tailed Grouse doing their courting activities. To the left is a male Sharp-tailed Grouse, trying to impress a female. Their mating display includes loud clucking vocalizations along with a little shuffling of the feet dance, pointing their tail feathers straight up in the air, putting their head low to the ground, puffing out their purple neck sacks and spreading their wings. There may be several males doing this display at one time to entice a female and hopefully the opportunity to breed. It happens on a grassy prairie area called a 'Lek', very early in the morning before sunrise, the end of March and early April. They are very similar to Prairie Chickens. We walked quietly out to the blind in the dark to get ready to watch and photograph the display. The lek was on a grassy knoll and here was a stiff wind blowing from the north so of course most of the birds were on the other side of the knoll where we couldn't see them from the blind. We could hear them clucking and only a few came up to the top of the rise where we could see them and get some photos.
[Click the images to see larger, and view the video below]
[Click the images to see larger, and view the video below]
Video - Male Sharp-tailed Grouse doing their mating dance, trying to impress a female:
RSS Feed