Sharp-tailed Grouse - Habitat Selection

Habitat Selection

The sharp-tailed grouse is found throughout different prairie ecosystems in North America. They inhabit ecosystems from the pine savannahs of the eastern upper Midwest to the short grass, mid grass, and shrub steppe prairies of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain West (Aldrich 1963; Johnsgard 1973; Johnsgard 2002). Selection of specific habitat characteristics and vegetation communities is variable among the different subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse. Selection of these specific habitats depends on the quality of habitat available to grouse (Johnsgard 1973; Kohn 1976; Swenson 1985; Roersma 2001; Goddard et al. 2009). The major habitats used by sharp-tailed grouse, recorded in the literature, are savannah style prairie with grasses dominant and shrub patches mixed throughout, with minimal patches of trees (Hammerstrom 1963; Robel 1972; Moyles 1981; Johnsgard 2002; Goddard et al. 2009). In fact, Hammerstrom (1963) states the taller the woody vegetation, the less of it there should be in the habitat. The savannah style habitat is mostly preferred during the summer and brood rearing months through autumn. This general habitat is used during all four seasons for different features. Habitat selection and usage vary by season with; lekking, nesting, brood rearing, and winter habitat selected and utilized differently.