Prairie Chickens…what will become of them?

I recently wrote about the current cover story for Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine (link to post here), and how we are noticing a drastic decline in Lesser Prairie Chicken populations in Texas. The story covers stewardship of land and enterprise amidst necessary renewable energy resources, as well as research that can aid in maintaining the population we do have. For some, it is a touchy subject, however, the article is a straight-on look at the big picture, and more than anything, hopefully prompts discussion and discourse on both sides of the bird’s future. All in all, it was a great story, and Stayton Bonner did a helluva job researching and writing the piece, and TPW Magazine did a great job of design!

I want to share a few more photographs from the story that couldn’t be squeezed in to print, just to give you an idea of what it was like photographing the story. This story actually took me and Stayton to McLean, Texas (northern Panhandle, east of Amarillo), to Austin. The idea of the story was to grasp all aspects of the issue, from land stewardship, to LPC research and population, to the political field in support of renewable energy, specifically in the form of wind energy.

Many a cold morning was spent in a blind before sunrise, waiting for the chickens (they’re not really chickens, rather a member of the grouse family) to fly or walk on to the leks. They are amazing creatures, and an initial thought was that they were actually much smaller than I, and I’m sure Stayton, anticipated. Nevertheless, it is pretty incredible being able to watch these animals, icons of the Plains, from relative close proximity.

When they begin their “booming,” it is nothing short of a ceremonial dance in order to win over a female. From their distinctive vocal sounding to their incessant stomping on the ground, their ritualistic parade of colors and hooplah is not like anything you’ve ever seen!

Even the way the males fight over a female is unique, even in it’s viciousness.

The culprit. A lone female posts herself higher than the males, to view their “booming,” and the battles over her that ensue.

The chickens were only part of the story, and a good part of it pertained to the human relationship with their existence. Researchers, like Blake Grisham, Nick Pirius, and Adam Bahney (second photo below), work with Texas Parks and Wildlife in order to determine LPC population health.

Heather Whitlaw, also works in conjuction with TPW and the Texas Tech University Lesser Prairie Chicken research that Blake, Nick and Adam conduct.

Jeff Haley, a cattle rancher and land steward in the Texas Panhandle, spoke of how he used to sneak up on leks in years past to watch the LPC boom, but he has not noticed much activity in recent times.

Paul Sadler, a former Texas state legislator, serves as the executive director of The Wind Coalition, a group that advocates the implementation of renewable energy producing wind turbines, yet recognizes the complex facets of the land that many turbines in Texas are being constructed upon.

Thanks again to everyone that helped make this story as significant it has become. Overall, this story serves as a good testament to a long issue of creation of habitat and co-existence, in which more than often, the right choice is made to benefit all involved!

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 10th, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under Blog, People, Texas and tagged with Lesser Prairie Chicken, Parks and Wildlife, Photography, Portraits, Texas, Threatened Species. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.