Greater sage-grouse

 The greater sage-grouse is the largest species of grouse which can be found in North America.

They are named for their reliance on sagebrush. Where these plants are removed these birds are unable to survive. This limits their occurrence to areas of the western US and two Canadian provinces.

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are one of more than 350 species that inhabit the sagebrush-steppe ecosystems of western North America. Females hatched this spring will live up to seven years; males will live an average of three years. 

Males gather together at a site known as a lek where they will all display for the females. The most impressive males will mate with the females who then go away and lay their eggs.

These birds have been increasingly impacted by the loss of their habitat and an increase in gas exploration.

While some birds die from disease or collisions with fencing, wildlife biologists say that they generally don’t die of old age. Sage-grouse are prey: the length of an individual bird’s life is determined by how long it can evade encountering other animals — predators — that sit higher in the ecosystem’s food chain. 

 Appearance

The greater sage-grouse is aptly named being the largest species of grouse found in North America. Average adults measure 48-76cm (19-30in) long with a weight of between 1.5 and 3kg (3.25 and 6.5lbs).

Males feature an ornate body. The head is colored grey on the crown. Their upper chest is colored brown with buff in the middle. On the neck is a ruff of white feathers. On the abdomen is a large black patch of feathers. Males have much longer tails than the females.

Females are colored gray and brown across most of their body. On the throat they have white and gray feathers.

Diet

Greater sage-grouse are omnivores. They feed on plants and insects. As they lack the muscular gizzard seen in similar species they cannot feed on hard seeds and instead rely primarily on sagebrush.

Young begin life feeding primarily on insects but transition to foliage by adulthood.

Range

North America is the native home of the greater sage-grouse. Here they can be found in parts of the United States and Canada. They are found in the west of the continent.

Their range covers the following states – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Eastern California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming, and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Habitat

These animals rely on the presence of sagebrush in their habitat. They will also use wetland and wet meadows.

Reproduction

During the breeding season, which takes place in April, the males will gather at a communal display site known as a lek. Here they perform a display in hopes of gaining the attention of a female with which they can mate.

During this display he spreads the pointed tail feathers and a ruff of feathers around the neck. He then begins to create loud bubbling noises which can carry across large distances. These are possible due to the air sac on the breast.

Following mating the female will deposit between 7 and 15 eggs in a nest which are colored olive-buff with some spots. The nest is built in the cover of a sagebush. It is a shallow depression which is lined with plant material.

The female will incubate the eggs for one month.

At hatching young can move quickly and are able to begin feeding on invertebrates soon after birth. Young can first fly at a week old.

Sexual maturity is achieved by the next breeding season.

Behavior

Outside of the breeding season these birds will move around in single gender flocks. During spring they will gather together at the breeding sites.

Predators and Threats

Populations of the greater sage-grouse are considered to be decreasing. At present the total population is estimated to include 150,000 individuals. Previous estimates put their population at as much as 16 million.

This species is increasingly threatened by habitat clearance and degradation. A major contributor to this is increases in cultivation of crops and overgrazing by domestic stock.

Increasingly the sagebursh on which they rely is being removed through increased wildfire activity.

Their lek breeding sites are being disturbed by natural gas exploration. These structures also provide a site for predators to hunt from adding another threat.

Disease is an increasing threat with large numbers being affected in recent years by the West Nile virus.

They may be the subject of collisions with barbed wire, electrical wires and wind turbines.

These birds are the subject of extensive conservation efforts and are seen as an umbrella species. This means that their conservation also assists a large number of other species in the same area.

Quick facts

They are the largest species of grouse in North America.

Mountain bluebird

 The mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) is a small migratory thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It has a light underbelly and black eyes. Adult males have thin bills and are bright turquoise-blue and somewhat lighter underneath. Adult females have duller blue wings and tail, grey breast, grey crown, throat and back. 

In fresh fall plumage, the female’s throat and breast are tinged with red-orange, brownish near the flank contrasting with white tail underparts. Their call is a thin ‘few’; while their song is warbled high ‘chur chur’. It is the state bird of Idaho and Nevada. It is an omnivore and it can live 6 to 10 years in the wild. It eats spiders, grasshoppers, flies and other insects, and small fruits. The mountain bluebird is a relative of the eastern and western bluebirds.

BASIC DESCRIPTION

Male Mountain Bluebirds lend a bit of cerulean sparkle to open habitats across much of western North America. You may spot these cavity-nesters flitting between perches in mountain meadows, in burned or cut-over areas, or where prairie meets forest—especially in places where people have provided nest boxes. Unlike many thrushes, Mountain Bluebirds hunt insects from perches or while on the wing, at times resembling a tiny American Kestrel with their long wings, hovering flight, and quick dives.

Find This Bird

In the right places it can be a snap to find Mountain Bluebirds, as they are not shy of humans and live in fairly open country. They sit in the open on perches such as treetops, fence posts, and power lines. In summer in rural areas and ranches, particularly at higher elevations, you can often find them simply by driving rural roads and eyeballing such potential perches. In forested areas, look for them in large openings, particularly if there are aspen in the vicinity (aspen is a key cavity-providing tree in western montane forests). In winter, search for areas with berry-laden junipers and watch for flocks of birds feeding on those berries. Mountain Bluebirds often mix with Western Bluebirds, American Robins, and Cedar Waxwings when taking advantage of such fruity abundance.

Facts

• Historically, the Mountain Bluebird depended for nest sites on forest tree cavities excavated by woodpeckers. Today, many Mountain Bluebirds breed in artificial nest boxes, which tend to be situated in more open areas and have smaller openings to keep out marauders and bad weather. Most of what we know about Mountain Bluebirds comes from studies of these human-made nesting sites.
• A female Mountain Bluebird pays more attention to good nest sites than to attractive males. She chooses her mate solely on the basis of the location and quality of the nesting cavity he offers her—disregarding his attributes as a singer, a flier, or a looker.
• A male Mountain Bluebird frequently feeds his mate while she is incubating and brooding. As the male approaches with food, the female may beg fledgling-style—with open beak, quivering wings, and begging calls. More often, she waits until her mate perches nearby, then silently flicks the wing farthest from him—a signal that usually sends him off to find her a snack.
• Mountain Bluebirds compete fiercely with other cavity-nesters over nest sites. Early spring arrival at nesting grounds, for example, helps them take possession of choice cavities before Tree Swallows can appropriate them. Northern Flickers sometimes enlarge the entrance holes of nest boxes before discovering the box is too small for their own use—rendering the boxes permeable to weather and competitors such as European Starlings.