Hear
a story about the Attwater's prairie-chicken.
Hear
an Attwater's prairie-chicken.
adapted from The Birds of Texas
by John L. Tveten
With just 50 birds living in the wild, the Attwater's prairie-chicken is the
most critically endangered bird in Texas. In spite of determined conservation efforts,
the population continues to decline at a perilous rate and is now dependent upon
captive breeding programs to save it from extinction.
An estimated one million Attwater's prairie-chickens once occupied seven million
acres of prairie along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. They were hunted heavily
for food and sport until they received protection under modern game laws. But
native tall-grass prairies--this bird's essential habitat--have all but vanished.
Loss of habitat due to continued urbanization, ranching and agriculture now pose
the greatest threat to the species' survival.
The
Attwater's prairie-chicken is a ground-dwelling bird that makes its nest in the
tall grasses of coastal prairies. It is related to pheasants, grouse, turkeys
and quail and feeds on insects, seeds, forbes and berries. Biologists regard the
Attwater's prairie-chicken as a subspecies of the greater prairie-chicken, a wide-ranging
species found on remnant tall-grass prairies across the Midwest and Great Plains.
Its cousin, the lesser prairie-chicken, inhabits the sandhills and short-grass
prairies of the Panhandle. Both the greater and lesser prairie-chicken species
are also in decline.
This medium-sized grouse is heavily barred with brown, black and buff-colored
feathers and has a short, rounded tail. The male has yellow-orange eye combs and
long tufts on the side of its neck, which point forward during courtship. The male
also has golden neck sacs, which are inflated during courtship. The prairie-chicken's
springtime courtship display ranks as one of nature's greatest spectacles. The
males patrol their sections of the lek (or booming ground), puffing out their
orange neck pouches and dancing in competition for the females. Their feet beat
so rapidly they are just a blur; the "booming" from the air sacs carries for half
a mile.
The
Attwater Prairie Chicken
National Wildlife Refuge north of Eagle Lake and the Nature Conservancy of
Texas Texas City Prairie Preserve
were established to conserve habitat for the Attwater's prairie-chicken. Today
an increasing number of private landowners are also participating in programs
to help restore and conserve prairie habitat. Chicks are currently being raised
for release into the wild at captive breeding programs located at the Houston Zoo, Abilene Zoo, Fossil Rim Wildlife
Center, San Antonio Zoo and Sea World Texas. Texas A&M University also conducts
research on the birds.
Many individuals, schools and organizations are also helping with conservation
efforts through the Adopt-a-Prairie
Chicken Program. For more information, contact the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department in Austin at 512-389-4644.
