Greater sage-grouse in the USA

This video from the USA says about itself:

11 March 2015

It looks like chaos out on the lek, but the high-stakes mating game of the Greater-Sage Grouse unfolds within a well-structured social scene. Learn the rules and meet the players.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the USA writes this month:

5 Things You Need to Know About Sage-Grouse This Month

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must decide this month whether to put the Greater Sage-Grouse on the Endangered Species List. At stake are 65 million acres ranging across 11 Western states. The species—down 95% since presettlement times—has been the subject of fierce debate as well as unprecedented collaboration among biologists, ranchers, energy companies, and environmentalists.

So would listing the bird be good or bad? Here’s what you need to know.

Watch The Sagebrush Sea: Our documentary airs on PBS Nature at 8 p.m. on September 16 (check local listings).

When it comes to mating displays, a little persistence can go a long way, at least for the greater sage grouse. Scientists have now used a custom-built statistical model to understand an underexplored dimension of greater sage grouse mating display behavior. The authors report that males that show greater display persistence, even in the face of seemingly uninterested females, have a competitive advantage over their peers: here.

A team of scientists successfully moved sage-grouse, a threatened bird species in Washington state, from one area of their range to another to increase their numbers and diversify their gene pool. A new study on the project shows relocating the birds is a viable and productive step towards helping their population recover in the state: here.

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• Federal grants help grouse habitat in Colorado, Washington
• 3 Things You Should Know About The Interior Department’s Massive New Conservation Plan
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• Six Of The Worst Environmental Provisions In The ‘Cromnibus’ Spending Bill
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• New Studies Indicate Protected Areas Needed to Conserve Greater Sage-grouse