Greater Prairie Chickens Booming on the Lek

Photo credit: David Bates

Early morning in mid-April found us on a Colorado mating lek of a pack of Greater Prairie Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido). There is something special about the busyness and noises of the lek that keeps us coming back in the springtime. Listen to the booming sounds and clucking of the prairie chickens as you watch this early morning video. You might even hear the pounding of their feet as the males prepare to fill their gular sacs, bow, and boom.

Yes, Greater Prairie Chickens (GPC) do fly.

Not only are they prolific jumpers and sparing experts, but they can also fly at speeds of up to 50 mph, as we saw when it was time for them to leave the mating lek. Like other grouse we have seen, the GPC leave the lek in a pack and seemingly all at once, maybe upon the signal of a lead GPC, though that is not always evident. They will leave the lek temporarily, if they suspect danger lurks such as a circling hawk or a prowling coyote. Once the perceived danger retreats, the GPC will return to the lek to continue their mating rituals until they declare it time to leave for the day. They left the lek closer to 8 am this year. As we found on this trip, they do return to the mating lek in the evening with the setting sun, which made for some interesting backlit photographic opportunities.

This year, we were more familiar with the grouse mating routine and could concentrate on predicting the actual behavior pattern. This was useful when trying to be camera ready for the frenzied displays between the males and the rapid copulation act between the male and the hen.

The males circle each other with various bowing actions, constantly chattering as if to threaten their counterpart. Watching the pinnae feathers is important. These long feathers at the neck rise up straight when the male is ready for jousting action. Once a sparring partner is engaged, the two will lower their wings near the ground, bring their tail feathers forward to their bodies and shake them. Then one of the birds will jump up high in the air to attack the other in a show of dominance. This might be repeated several times before the two split apart and go back to filling their orange gular sacs with air, releasing the air making a loud booming sound, and stomping their feet rapidly as they turn around.

Single males also practice jumping in the air, booming, foot stomping, and clucking vocalization. We found that you could tell when a male was ready to jump, because he stretches his neck while looking skyward, twists around a bit, and then leaps into the air, landing several feet away. Sometimes he performs this act repeatedly across several feet of the lek. Other times, he seems to take a breath and returns to booming.

Competition for prime lek placement was evident this year, too. The stronger males take center stage as do the hens. The younger males stay to the periphery, venturing closer to the center only when jumping and sometimes crossing over into the center when in full flight sparing action.

Once the birds left the lek, we could see the full lek and its stark location with short grasses filling in around the sandy patches. Feathers, bird fecal droppings, and stomping tracks remained the only evidence that a spectacular ritual had only just finished on this very spot.