Schiess: Dancing up a fight with sharp-tailed grouse

A misty rain had quieted most of the early birds from breaking the predawn silence … except for a hooting sound coming from the sagebrush. High on a ridge east of Rexburg, I waited for the dawn to break so I could witness the activities on a Columbia sharp-tailed grouse lek (a place where males compete to attract females). The sounds came closer and closer as I realized the hooting was not coming from an owl, but from male Sharp-tails as they moved onto the annual breeding ground to dance, fight and hoot.

Soon the hooting was replaced by clucking, stomping of feet and rasping of tail feathers together as the males danced around the truck on all sides. Still too dark to see clearly, occasionally the dance would be interrupted by the sounds of two males battling over the same section of the lek.

The first things I saw were the “popcorn” tails, as they were held high during the elaborate dance, flashing their white under-feathers. As it grew lighter the dancing continued, but the fighting intensified between males. Occasionally a Northern Harrier would fly by with and the dancing would stop until the raptor had disappeared.

A cock continued to dance around the truck, occasionally coming within ten feet of me, looking at me with an evil eye. As other males challenged him, he would run them off only to return and glance at me.

Finally in unison all of the birds left the lek as a harrier sliced through some scattered aspen to attack the birds. But the hawk was unsuccessful, and the birds were gone for only a few minutes before they came running or flying back. Unlike sage grouse, sharpies will work their way back to the lek to continue their show unless the sun is well past the horizon. Nineteen males returned to dance and battle, tempting four hens enough to come to the lek.

Leks are usually found on open grassy knolls where the males gather each spring to dance and sing their way into the hearts of the females. These dances are elaborate. The stomping of feet, spreading of wings, filling purple air sacks on their necks, puffing up their yellow eyebrows, and raising their white tails while making a variety of sounds are all in an attempt to attract the females.

One of the strangest sounds and motions of the dance is the rubbing of the two center tail feathers together, making a rasping sound. This is done with the wings spread out while stomping the ground with their feet.

The population of the Columbia sharp-tailed grouse has increased gradually over the past 10 years after most grouse disappeared from many of their traditional leks during the 1970’s and 1980’s. Sharptails historically numbered in the millions, that were described by the early settlers to “block out the sun” when they were flushed. Due to loss and degradation of habitat, their numbers dropped to just a fraction of what they were. Many of the traditional breeding grounds in Southeastern Idaho still remain birdless.

With the Conservation Reserve Program, marginal agriculture lands have created hundreds of thousands of acres of grasslands used by these birds. The CRP land and lands owned by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game allows sagebrush and mixed shrubs like bitterbrush and chokecherry to propagate for their cover and food.

Most of the leks are found on private ground, though, so permission must be obtained to witness this event. But occasionally east of Rexburg, east of Idaho Falls and north of St. Anthony, a few of the leks are viewable from the roads over the high grasslands.

Watching the Columbia Sharp-tails is an early morning activity with most of the action from 6 to 9 each morning. It is a sight that will not soon be forgotten once it is observed by those lucky enough to view it.