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Member Joined: 06 Nov 2006 Posts: 128 Location: NE

And now for something completely different.

Wednesday on my way to work, I saw something that really surprised me, a male prairie chicken booming right on the shoulder of the highway. When I first saw it, about 200 yards ahead of me on the left side, I thought that it was a hen pheasant, I slowed and drifted over to the edge of the road. As I passed it, I could hardly believe what I was looking at, air sacs puffed up, "ears" erect, wings half spread and running back and forth. Turned into a field drive another 200 yards up and whipped it around to go back for a better look. Drove back past and then turned into another field drive only about 50 yards past the bird and sat and watched it for a few minutes before I had to take off and head into work, drove past it again went on into town.

Now this is really unusual for a couple of reasons. First, I haven't ever seen a prairie chicken in this area, the closest ones that I know of are about 15 - 20 miles away. This area is farmed, mostly corn and soybeans, but there are a couple of alfalfa fields and pastures, and several 1/4 sections of CRP were plowed up last fall. Prairie chickens don't tolerate farming very well. Second, these displays are usually done on leks that are used year after year. So what the heck this bird was doing there is kind of a puzzler.

Here is a picture of one

I've seen these displays several times before, the first time I did I was just a kid and we were fishing at a pond out in the boonies. I heard the strangest sound and couldn't figure out what the heck it was or where it was coming from. Took off to investigate and a couple of hundred yards away, found a lek with about a half dozen cocks booming and about a couple of dozen hens standing around.

berg

Cupid must have visited that bird before he reached his lek. Laughing

I have never seen a chicken dance, but it must be a riveting sight.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

These birds were once common in Central Illinois Shocked

They have gone the way of the ringneck due to no cover Evil or Very Mad

Glad to know there are areas where they are possibly making a comeback Wink

Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 443

Here are some neat new pics from Western Kansas.

Chickens Dancing

Berg, approximately where in the state was this?

sv

http://bbs.shootingsportsman.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38088
The recording is really neat! Cool

Member Joined: 06 Nov 2006 Posts: 128 Location: NE

Steve,
Where I saw this bird was in western Wayne county right on Hwy 98. The closest I had ever seen any other chickens around here is back west of Piece, or north up past Randolph. I have heard that there are some in the Winside - Hoskins area, but I haven't seen any.

They may have been making a comeback in the area but I don't think they will make it any more. With corn at $6 a bushel, farmland values here having gone up 25% last year, and CRP enrollments expiring with no decent new program in place, there is lots of ground being torn up again. Just in land that I have hunted on, there are dozens of fields that will be going back "into production". Last hunting season, in my area there were 8 fields that had been in the CRP-MAP (Managed Access Program, walk-in hunting) that even though they were listed in the atlas as being currently enrolled, were disced up and posted. Fencelines are being torn out, and even waterways are being either just plowed through or ditched so that they can farm an extra 1/4 acre. Last year there was a big rush to drill irrigation wells out of fear that the area would be declared fully appropriated and drilling would be stopped, and center pivots are popping up as fast as they ever were.

berg

Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 443

Berg,

Same deal here in the southeast. By Christmas, half of my productive MAP/Walk In areas were plowed under. Scary.

sv

Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 443

I love this one!