Attwater's Prairie Chicken Natural History

Tympanuchus cupido attwateri

About 1 million Attwater’s prairie chickens once lived amid the coastal prairies of Texas and Louisiana. The size of a small chicken, the brown bird with black bars actually is a member of the grouse family and is a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken unique to the Gulf Coast.

The bird is particularly known for its mating rituals: In late winter and early spring the males gather on their breeding or “booming” grounds, called a lek, to attract females. The “booming” refers to a distinctive call the males make that is often described as similar to the low-pitched whistle one can make by blowing over the top of a soda bottle. To make this sound, the male prairie chicken is able to inflate two gold air sacs on either side of its neck.

Males also have gold “eyebrows,” actually combs over their eyes, and long, ear-like tufts above each air sac called pinnae, which point forward during courtship.

While they are booming, male prairie chickens perform a courtship dance, stamping their feet rapidly on the ground and occasionally charging and squawking at other males – an activity that has given rise to speculation that the booming of prairie chickens may have inspired some dances performed by Native Americans of the Great Plains. Booming activity takes place from the pre-dawn hours to about mid-morning, from February to mid-May.

It is the booming activity that attracts female prairie chickens to the lek, and females choose their mates. Once they breed, the females make a shallow nest in the tall grass some distance from the lek and lays her eggs. Once they hatch, the chicks feed primarily on insects provided by their mothers, who they stay with for about six weeks. As they get older, they also eat the seeds, flowers and leaves of prairie plants.

Natural predators of prairie chickens and their eggs include skunks, bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, snakes, opossums and raptors. Raptors are a particular threat during the fall, when migrating hawks and falcons seek prairie chickens and other prey along the coast before they cross the Gulf of Mexico. Domestic dogs and cats also prey on the birds, and fire ants can invade nests and kill the chicks. Heavy spring rains and flooding along the coast also may take their toll on nesting activity.

Attwater’s prairie chicken numbers have dwindled sharply over the past century, primarily due to the industrial and residential development that has supplanted their coastal habitat. Individual birds live only about four years in the wild. As endangered species, their recovery depends on the re-establishment of large populations in suitable habitat in multiple locations.