COLORADO: The Sandhill Dancers

Booming, stomping, strutting, stamping, clucking, screeching and jumping. These are just a few ways to describe the incredible displays of the Greater Prairie-chickens. After decades of population decline, this remarkable grassland species is now recovering sufficiently so that Colorado has “upgraded” their status from Endangered to Special Concern. Under direction from the Wray Chamber of Commerce partnering with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Kitzmiller Grazing Association, we witnessed one of nature’s most amazing behaviors – the mating rituals of the ‘Sandhill Dancers’ on their lekking grounds (above). This large lek was characterized by flat open short grass habitat surrounded by rolling sand hills of low brush.

Our morning began early, so that a group of birders from all over the country were situated in a mobile blind well before daylight – by 5:30am. We could hear the birds booming even before we could see them in the pre-dawn darkness. As the sky slowly turned orange and pink, the chickens emerged from the shadows. The lek was alive with activity, as many females (above – four with one male) stalked around, while the males worked hard to defend their small territories and prove their worthiness through dominance and eye-catching displays.

The males (above) raised their tail and pinnae (on their head) feathers, and puffed out their timpani – the yellow and orange air sac on their neck and eye brows – to create a colorful appearance and impress the females. If a female was sufficiently interested, she squatted down in front of the male and spread her wings. This was the signal for the lucky male to mount her and mate. It was over in a blink – she shook her feathers, and both birds parted ways, likely to mate again. We witnessed six copulations!

The older dominant males command the center of the lek, enticing the females to walk through, while forcing the younger males to stay at the periphery of the loose circle. If the outsiders crossed territory boundaries – invisible to us, but apparently clear to the birds – the dominant males would immediately chase-away the offender in a flurry of running, wing-flapping and jumping (above). Males were constantly vying for attention and status, eager to show their worthiness to the females. The Greater Prairie-chicken courting rituals peak in mid-April, and we were fortunate to see a high number of birds – over 20 males and 33 females.

After about two hours of watching the amazing displays, we left the blind and headed to the Kitzmiller Grazing Association, where we hungrily devoured an excellent ranch country breakfast of fresh eggs, thick-cut bacon and homemade pancakes (above).  Though temperatures hovered around a balmy 40 degrees at this hour, the ample supply of hot coffee went a long way towards warming up our frozen hands and feet!

Leaving Wray, we headed south down Rte 385. The day’s long drive was broken up by a few birding stops. At Bonny State Park (above) we did not find any owls, but added a few new birds to our list, including Eastern Bluebird, Spotted Towhee, Cedar Waxwing and Wild Turkey. Continuing south, we passed many raptors perched on poles or flying over fields. We got great looks at Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawks, numerous Red-tails, Northern Harrier and American Kestrel. Sheridan Lake was rimmed with salt, but contained enough water to host Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.

Near the end of the day, our energy levels spiked with a productive drive down the long dirt road “M” in the southeast corner of the state. Driving east into Kansas, there was an impressive showing of Swainson’s Hawk (above) and some of the above mentioned raptors, as well as Long-billed Curlew, Barn Swallow, Vesper Sparrow, Say’s Phoebe, Ring-necked Pheasant. We saw several Mule Deer, White-tailed Deer and some large herds of Pronghorn (below). Chihuahuan Raven nests on windmill structures appeared empty, but a few were seen at a distance.

Racing the setting sun, we crossed into Kansas at before sunset. Predictably, the first bird on the new state list was a Western Meadowlark. As the sky filled with pink and purple, we scouted the Elkhart East Prairie-chicken lek in preparation for tomorrow morning. Another mesmerizing chicken experience awaits us!