Have you ever been in southeastern Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, or Kansas? Did you see a bird that was black, brown, white, and orange? What you probably saw was a greater or a lesser prairie chicken. The prairie chicken is an endangered species and it is estimated that there are only 50,000 left in the United States of America. It eats grasshoppers and other bugs in the summer and plants in the other seasons. As with most animals, the prairie chicken is treated badly. Although it is radio collared for protection, it is still vulnerable to its enemies, which are the bear, the cougar, the great horned owl, and, of course, the human. The prairie chicken is 18 inches long and weighs 2 pounds.

It has air pockets on its cheeks that puff up when air is sucked in. The air pockets might accidentally puff up while it's running, but this usually only happens during courtship displays, otherwise known as mating. During the courtship display, the air pockets puff out, the tail raises, the wings raise, and a hollow booming escapes from the throat. The mating usually occurs during March and April, so if you want to see the process, come to Colorado at that time.

I got my information from COLORADO WILDLIFE by Jeff Rennicke, THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA, WILDLIFE IN DANGER, and PRAIRIE DWELLERS by Daniel Albert-Kouraguine.

Have you seen an animal that looks like a chicken, moves very fast, and has a neck pouch? If so, it's a prairie chicken. There are two types of prairie chickens, the greater and the lesser. Prairie chickens are endangered species because of hunters, but in the last few years people have bought 11,000 acres of land to help protect them from hunters. The prairie chicken lives in prairies and brushy grasslands. They are 15-46 inches in size. They live 4 years at the least to 7 years at the most. Prairie chickens eat tender leaves, seeds, sedges, insects and berries. Sometimes you can see it open it's neck pouches, that's called a boom. A boom is when the male makes weird sounds and dances to attract a female. When they puff up they try to attract a female. I bet you didn't know this - the females nest and care for the young alone! If you want to learn more about prairie chickens here are some books where I got my information: PRAIRIE WILDLIFE by Wendy Shatiland Razina and COLORADO WILDLIFE by Jeff Rennicke.

Can you believe that hunters killed lots of prairie chickens just for the meat! We can see, hear and enjoy them because the government passed a law to protect prairie chickens. Colorado bought land just for these birds to protect them. Prairie chickens are best known for their amazing spring dance that they do at dawn to attract a mate.The prairie chicken has a cousin, the bobwhite quail. The male prairie chicken has feathers that look like horns on the top of his head!

I found information in these books: PRAIRIE ANIMALS published by Encyclopedia Britannica and WILDLIFE IN DANGER published by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.