- Lesser Prairie Chicken
Taxobox
name = Lesser Prairie Chicken
image_width = 200px
image_caption = Lesser Prairie Chicken - USFWS photo
status = VU
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Aves
subclassis =Neornithes
infraclassis =Neognatha
superordo =Galloanserae
ordo =Galliformes
familia =Tetraonidae (disputed)
genus = "Tympanuchus "
species = "T. pallidicinctus"
binomial = "Tympanuchus pallidicinctus"
binomial_authority = (Ridgway, 1873)
synonyms ="Tympanuchus cupido pallidicinctus"The Lesser Prairie Chicken, "Tympanuchus pallidicinctus", a species in the
grouse family, is slightly smaller and paler than its near relative theGreater Prairie Chicken . It is found primarily in thesandhill s andprairie s of WesternOklahoma , theTexas Panhandle , and theLlano Estacado ofTexas and EasternNew Mexico , and also rarely in SoutheasternColorado and WesternKansas .Like its larger relative, it is known for its lekking behavior.
Considered "vulnerable" by the
IUCN due to its restricted and patchy range, it is vulnerable to habitat destruction. [IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=40167|title=Tympanuchus pallidicinctus|downloaded=31 May 2008] There is evidence suggesting thatglobal warming may have a particularly detrimental influence by greatly reducing the size of thesagebrush ecosystem. cite web | last = Youth | first = Howard| title = Lekkin’ Grouse on the Prairie| work = Zoogoer March/April 2007| publisher = National Zoo| date = 2007| url = http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2007/2/Lekking.cfm| accessdate =2008-05-31 ]Subfossil remains are known e.g. fromRocky Arroyo in theGuadalupe Mountains , outside the species' current range but where more habitat existed in the lesshumid conditions in the outgoinglast ice age . They disappeared apparently no later than about 8000 BC, soon after the start of human settlement, which may also have contributed to the local extinction. [Howard (1933)]Footnotes
References
*
* (1933): Bird remains from cave deposits in New Mexico. "Condor" 35(1): 15-18. [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v035n01/p0015-p0018.pdf PDF fulltext] [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/DJVU/v035n01/P0015-P0018.djvu DjVu fulltext]External links
* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=303&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
* [http://audubon2.org/webapp/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=122 Audubon Watchlist - Lesser Prairie Chicken]
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=959 Lesser Prairie-Chicken videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=lesser+prairie-chicken&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Lesser Prairie-Chicken photo gallery] VIREO
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