DANCERS IN THE SNOW
16 | April 2020
Columbian sharp-tailed grouse put on a show as males compete for the attention of hens. As researchers continue to learn more about Wyoming’s small population of these birds, some questions are answered while others arise. Story by Eve Newman Photos by Noppadol Paothong
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W
ith their heads down and wings extended, male Columbian sharptailed grouse aim their pointed tails at the sky and face off during their annual communal spring dance. As they vie for the attention of nearby females, the birds inflate purple air sacs on the sides of their necks, which flash against their dark feathers. They stomp their feet in a blur of speed aimed at winning over even the most reluctant female. When it comes to lekking, the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse operates on hyperdrive. The energetic stomping often leads to fighting. Males attack and grab at each other with their beaks and talons, feathers flying as they jostle for status. Unlike the stately, strutting greater sage grouse, the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse’s lek display is frenzied and fast. 18 | April 2020
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“I don’t understand how they move their feet so fast,” said Tony Mong, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department wildlife biologist. Mong was stationed in the Green River region in south-central Wyoming from 2010 to 2017 where he studied Wyoming’s main population of Columbian sharp-tailed grouse. Wyoming is home to a small population of Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, one of six subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse that live in North America. A small number of the grouse live in Grand Teton National Park, while the Little Snake River population lives along the western foothills of the Sierra Madre Range extending into a much larger area of occupied habitat in northern Colorado. Other groups of grouse are scattered across mostly eastern Wyoming. As researchers continue to learn more about Wyoming’s Columbian sharp-tailed grouse population, they contribute to a growing understanding of the species and its needs. Meanwhile, they’re attempting to discover if the grouse are really what they seem. Wyoming Wildlife | 19
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LOOKING FOR NEW DANCE FLOORS
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Columbian sharp-tails live amid the sagebrush, serviceberry, snowberry and mountain mahogany shrub communities of the foothills at elevations of 6,500 to 8,500 feet, with some moving into areas dominated by grasses. Because of habitat loss, they occupy just 10 percent of their historic range across several Rocky Mountain states. Their plumage is mostly gray and brown with white on the breast, but males and females both have yellow combs over their eyes. Their diet, like other sharp-tailed grouse, includes forbs, leaves, berries, buds and insects. “They’re probably one of the most generalist grouse species,” said Jeff Beck, a professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at the University of Wyoming. Beck has been researching Columbian sharp-tailed grouse for the last six years. Before he started, most of what was known about the population in Wyoming dated to studies from the 1980s. The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is classified as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Wyoming as part of the Game and Fish’s State Wildlife Action Plan, which provides a framework for coordinating management among states, federal agencies, local governments, industries and conservation groups. The listing identifies species that need more management attention or species that need to be studied. Mong said the status of the Columbian sharp-tail reflects its small population in the state and the lack of in-depth study on the bird. “There’s just not a lot of numbers and not a lot of good ways to track those populations,” Mong said. To better understand the location and number of leks in south-central Wyoming, Mong initiated the collaboration with Beck and UW Ph.D. student Kurt Smith, as well as the Bureau of Land Management. Tim Woolley, Bioservices supervisor for Game and Fish, remembered working as a district biologist in south-central Wyoming about 10 years ago and finding new leks deep in the shrubs, tracking the birds by ear as they danced. “We didn’t have really good records, so I was kind of exploring,” he said. When he came upon a lek unexpectedly and flushed the birds, he’d wait for them to return. “Usually if you stayed real quiet they’d come right back to the lek and start dancing again,” he said. Beck and Smith mapped potential lek areas using what they knew of the bird’s habitat preferences, then conducted aerial surveys with an infrared camera and ground surveys on foot. They found six new leks in the process, bringing the total number of known leks in Wyoming to about 30. 20 | April 2020
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PHOTOGRAPHING COLUMBIAN SHARP-TAILS
By Noppadol Paothong
WHICH GROUSE? More recently, Beck and UW doctoral student Jonathan Lautenbach have been looking into the genetic profile of the Little Snake River population. Taking blood samples and body measurements to compare to Columbian sharp-tails in Idaho and the plains sharp-tails in eastern Wyoming, which is another subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse, the research looks into whether the Little Snake River population is truly made up of Columbian sharp-tails. A paper published in 2006 in the Journal of Molecular Ecology suggests they could actually be plains sharp-tails. DNA isn’t the only aspect of the study. Looking at population movements and growth also is on their radar. As Beck and Lautenbach gathered blood samples and measurements, they outfitted the birds with radio transmitters to track 22 | April 2020
movements. Then they returned in late summer to attach smaller transmitters to juvenile grouse so they could track them over the winter. “We’d follow them around all summer looking at what habitat they were using, survival, nest success, brood survival and clutch size,” Lautenbach said. Beck, Lautenbach and agency biologists have seen evidence the Little Snake River population is expanding its range north and east. Lek counts last year were below average, but the population seems to be on stable footing. Acute threats from human development are low, and there’s little energy development across the population’s current range. “Anecdotally, based on survival, nest success and brood success, I would say that it’s stable or growing,” Lautenbach said of the population, adding that he won’t know for certain
until he digs deeper into the data he’s collected during the last several years. Woolley observed the population growing when he was a biologist in the region 10 years ago. “The birds were doing well, and on the leks their numbers were increasing,” he said. “To me, it seemed like their numbers were flourishing.” Beck said managing the birds as they expand will require continued collaboration with Game and Fish and the BLM. In the future, as scientists know more about the birds’ habitat preferences, they might even be able to identify sites where they could establish a new population. “There’s a lot of optimism,” Beck said. — Eve Newman is a reporter and freelancer from Laramie. She enjoys running, playing broomball, Nordic skiing and camping with her husband and two daughters. This is her first contribution to Wyoming Wildlife.
Hiking through seven feet of snow during a blizzard was not what I had in mind when I came to photograph Columbian sharp-tailed grouse in Wyoming. What I thought was a simple plan to set up a photo blind and return in the morning was made more complicated by Wyoming’s fierce weather. Wyoming Game and Fish Department Wildlife Biologist Tony Mong met with me take me to a lek on a remote mountain. A blizzard was moving in fast, and Mong suggested we take his snowmobile. After several attempts, we realized the snowmobile couldn’t push through the deep snow. We hiked instead. While Tony returned his snowmobile, I began the walk in deep snow. With heavy gear on my back and now wearing snowshoes, I fell into snow up to my waist every few steps. To make matters worse, my foot got stuck in a deep drift. With wind gusting at 40 mph, I could barely see beyond my reach. Luckily, Tony returned to pull me out. At 5 a.m. we struggled to set up the blind in the fury of the storm, and then painfully sat inside as snow continued to fall. After two hours, we decided the conditions were too perilous for our safety. Even in that weather, I was astonished to see several sharp-tailed grouse. Their mating instincts are strong. Males begin congregating early in the year when winter has a firm grip on the landscape. They continue the mating ritual even in harsh conditions. The weather cleared up after a few days, and I returned to the lek to find half of my photo blind was buried by snow. Photographing from a photo blind during mating season was essential, though, because it allowed me to get shots of the grouse without disturbing them. At 5:40 a.m., about 20 birds flew in. Incredibly, thanks to their wide, feathery feet they ran and danced on top of the deep snow. The powder flew around them as they danced. It was one my most memorable moments in photography, not only due to my struggle to get there, but also because of the incredible images that resulted. — Noppadol Paothong is a nature and conservation photographer who has spent more than 15 years photographing rare and endangered species. Much of his time has been spent in a blind photographing grassland grouse.
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