Gunnison Sage-Grouse

Taxobox
name = Gunnison Sage-Grouse
status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Galliformes
familia = Tetraonidae
genus = "Centrocercus"
species = "C. minimus"
binomial = "Centrocercus minimus"
binomial_authority = Young et al., 2000

The Gunnison Sage-Grouse, "Centrocercus minimus", is a species of grouse endemic to the United States. It is almost identical to the closely related Greater Sage-Grouse in appearance but about a third smaller in size, with much thicker plumes behind the head and a less elaborate courtship dance. It is restricted in range to southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, with the largest population residing in the Gunnison Basin region in Colorado. Despite being native to a country where the avifauna generally is relatively well known, it was overlooked until the 1990s due the similarities with the Greater Sage-Grouse, and only described as a new species in 2000—making it the first new avian species to be described from the USA since the 19th century. [Young, J.R., C.E. Braun, S.J. Oyler-McCance, J.W. Hupp, & T.W. Quinn. 2000. "A new species of sage-grouse (Phasianidae: "Centrocercus") from southwestern Colorado." Wilson Bulletin 112: 445–453.]

Sage-Grouse are notable for their elaborate courtship rituals. Each spring males congregate on leks and perform a "strutting display". Groups of females observe these displays and select the most attractive males to mate with. Only a few males do most of the breeding. Males perform on leks for several hours in the early morning and evening during the spring months. Leks are generally open areas adjacent to dense sagebrush stands, and the same lek may be used by grouse for decades.

The numbers of this species are declining due to loss of habitat; their range has shrunk in historical times. However, though petitions have been made to list the Gunnison Sage-Grouse under the Endangered Species Act, the US Fish & Wildlife Service has, for political reasons, refused to list them. [cite web |last=Barringer |first=Felicity |title=Interior Official and Federal Biologists Clash on Danger to Bird |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/national/05bird.html?ex=1259902800&en=9e87a1576fc2ac67&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland |date=2004-12-04 |accessdate=2008-07-20 |publisher=New York Times] [cite web |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/29/AR2006102900776.html |title=Bush Appointee Said to Reject Advice on Endangered Species |publisher=Washington Post |first=Juliet |last=Eilperin |date=2006-10-30 |accessdate=2008-07-20] [cite web |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/washington/02interior.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=%22julie%20macdonald%22&st=cse&oref=slogin |title=Interior Official Steps Down Over Rules Violation |first=Felicity |last=Barringer |date=2007-05-02 |accessdate=2008-07-20]

References