Greater Sage-grouse
A species of Sage-grouses, Also known as Eastern Greater Sage-grouse, Western Sage-grouse, Sage Hen Scientific name : Centrocercus urophasianus Genus : Sage-grouses
Greater Sage-grouse, A species of Sage-grouses
Also known as:
Eastern Greater Sage-grouse, Western Sage-grouse, Sage Hen
Botanical name: Centrocercus urophasianus
Genus: Sage-grouses
Content
Description People often ask General Info
Photo By Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
Adult greater sage-grouse have a long, pointed tail and legs with feathers to the toes. The adult male has a yellow patch over each eye, is grayish on top with a white breast, and has a dark brown throat and a black belly; two yellowish sacs on the neck are inflated during courtship display. The adult female is mottled gray-brown with a light brown throat and dark belly. Adult males range in length from 26 to 30 inches and weigh between 4 and 7 pounds. Adult females are smaller, ranging in length from 19 to 23 inches and weighing between 2 and 4 pounds. 
Size
53-76 cm (21-30 in)
Colors
Brown
Black
Yellow
Bronze
Gray
White
Life Expectancy
7 years
Nest Placement
Ground
Clutch Size
4 - 11 eggs
Number of Broods
25 - 29 days
Feeding Habits
Greater Sage-grouse's diet is dominated by sagebrush leaves and buds year-round. Chicks primarily consume forbs and insects like beetles, grasshoppers, and ants for the first three weeks, as they cannot digest sagebrush. Female greater Sage-grouse require dandelions and other forbs for pre-laying nourishment.
Habitat
Greater Sage-grouse primarily dwell in vast sagebrush ecosystems where Artemisia species dominate, typically spanning sagebrush-grassland or juniper sagebrush-grassland landscapes. These birds select habitats with dense big sagebrush, various other Artemisia species like silver and low sagebrush, and sometimes venture into desert shrub regions. Preferential elevation and climate conditions are not explicitly mentioned, but their presence across 16 U.S. states and parts of Canada suggests an adaptability to a range of altitudes and climates within their habitat niche. Greater Sage-grouse are known to nest in areas with comprehensive sagebrush coverage and utilize clear spaces for lekking—social displays during the mating season. Diverse habitat usage extends to where hens with broods seek out rich foraging grounds, which may include irrigated fields and wet meadows.
Nest Behavior
Female greater Sage-grouse are solitary nesters, responsible for building, incubating, and chick-rearing. Nest-building peaks in spring; egg-laying follows, with females solely tending to their eggs and hatchlings.
Nest Characteristics
Greater Sage-grouse's nests are ground-based, bowl-shaped, and typically placed under sagebrush shrubs or grass tufts. They measure about 8 inches wide and 2-4 inches deep, with lining materials including leaves, grasses, twigs, and the female's breast feathers.
Dite type
Herbivorous
People often ask
General Info
Sounds
Call
Recording location: United States
Behavior
Greater Sage-grouse exhibit a distinctive lekking behavior during the breeding season, with males fiercely defending small territories where they perform elaborate courtship displays. This species' daily activities revolve around foraging for sagebrush, which is critical to its diet and survival. Females evaluate the males' presentations during mating periods and are the ultimate deciders in the selection of a mate. Post-mating, males play no role in rearing the young. Greater Sage-grouse's lifestyle is closely tied to sagebrush ecosystems, relying on these habitats for food, shelter, and breeding grounds.
Distribution Area
Greater sage-grouse are obligate residents of the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem, usually inhabiting sagebrush-grassland or juniper (Juniperus spp.) sagebrush-grassland communities. Meadows surrounded by sagebrush may be used as feeding grounds. Use of meadows with a crown cover of silver sagebrush (A. cana) is especially important in Nevada during the summer. Greater sage-grouse occur throughout the range of big sagebrush (A. tridentata), except on the periphery of big sagebrush distribution. Greater Sage-Grouse prefer mountain big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. vaseyana) and Wyoming big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. wyomingensis) communities to basin big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. tridentata) communities. Sagebrush cover types other than big sagebrush can fulfill greater sage-grouse habitat requirements; in fact, the grouse may prefer other sagebrush cover types to big sagebrush. Greater sage-grouse in Antelope Valley, California, for example, use black sagebrush (A. nova) cover types more often than the more common big sagebrush cover types. Hens with broods on the National Antelope Refuge in Oregon were most frequently found (54–67% of observations) in low sagebrush (A. arbuscula) cover. Desert shrub habitat may also be used by greater sage-grouse. Sagebrush communities supporting greater sage-grouse include silver sagebrush and fringed sagebrush (A. frigida). Their historic range spanned 16 American states and Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan in Canada. Between 1988 and 2012, the Canadian population declined by 98%. By 2012, they were extirpated from British Columbia and left with only remnant populations in Alberta with 40 to 60 adult birds, and in Saskatchewan with only 55 to 80 adult birds. By 2013, sage grouse were also extirpated from five U.S. states. In 2013, the Canadian Governor in Council on behalf of the Minister of the Environment, under the Species at Risk Act, annexed an emergency order for the protection of the greater sage-grouse.
Species Status
Residential building and energy development have caused the greater sage-grouse population to decline from 16 million 100 years ago to between 200,000 and 500,000 today. This species is in decline due to loss of habitat; the bird's range has shrunk in historical times, having been extirpated from British Columbia, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico. Though the greater sage-grouse as a whole is not considered endangered by the IUCN, local populations may be in serious danger of extinction. In May 2000, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the Centrocercus urophasianus phaios, formerly found in British Columbia, as being extirpated in Canada. The presence of subfossil bones at Conkling Cave and Shelter Cave in southern New Mexico show that the species was present south of its current range at the end of the last ice age, leading some experts to project that the species could become increasingly vulnerable as global climate change increases the humidity in semiarid regions.
Photo By Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Scientific Classification
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