Sharp-tailed Grouse

Sharp-tailed grouse are no longer present in the B.C. Columbia Basin.

The sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus), is blue listed (at risk) in British Columbia. Approximately 70 percent of the population has been lost in the last 100 years, though some stabilization may have occurred since 1995.

Map

No Map Data or Theme for this Species

Range

• Western Colorado, north-eastern Utah, western Wyoming, extreme western Montana, northern Nevada, north-western California, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, Idaho, and south-eastern British Columbia
• Formerly distributed from Newgate to Invermere in the East Kootenay trench
• Currently believed to be extirpated from the Columbia Basin

Habitat

Open grasslands,  preferably with ample herbaceous cover. Aspen thickets and berry producing shrubs are important winter food and cover habitats. Cultivated alfalfa fields are also used in some areas

Reproduction

• This species has a lek mating system where the males gather in groups and perform elaborate displays or mating ‘dances’ in the early spring
• Female incubates 10-13 eggs for 21-23 days
• Young are precocial and able to leave the nest immediately to forage with the hen

Listing and Date

Threats to Species

• Habitat loss (development, forest encroachment on grasslands).
• Decreases in the quality of remaining grasslands
• In the Kootenays, important wintering riparian habitat has been lost to flooding

Select Reports

• Sharp-tailed Grouse Inventory
• The Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse in the East Kootenay
• Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse

For more information on this species, visit the  BC Species and Ecosystem Explorer and enter “sharp-tailed grouse” in the Species Name field.