The Four Keys to ID
- Size & Shape
A chunky game bird with a small head, chubby body, short legs, and relatively short tail.
Relative Size
Larger than a Ruffed Grouse, smaller than a Ring-necked Pheasant.
crow-sizedMeasurements
- Both Sexes
- Length: 16.9 in (43 cm)
- Weight: 31.9-36.1 oz (904-1024 g)
- Wingspan: 27.4-28.5 in (69.5-72.5 cm)
© Dorian Anderson / Macaulay Library
- Color Pattern
Mottled brown, rufous, black, and white above, barred brown and white below.
© Dorian Anderson / Macaulay Library - Behavior
Prairie-chickens forage by slowly walking through grasslands and brush, hunting insects and pecking for seeds and grains, sometimes climbing into vegetation to obtain fruit and buds. They can fly strongly for considerable distances between roosting and feeding areas. Courtship displays are famously acrobatic, particularly when females are in attendance.
- Habitat
Tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies interspersed with farmland, brushy areas, and occasional oak copses.
© Chris Wood / Macaulay Library
Regional Differences
Greater Prairie-Chickens are divided into two living subspecies plus the extinct Heath Hen, which lived in the northeastern U.S. Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken (attwateri) is a small, dark prairie-chicken that was once common around the western Gulf of Mexico but is now found only in three very small areas. Greater Prairie-Chickens that inhabit the Great Plains (pinnatus) are larger than Attwater’s and have mostly bare lower legs.
