black below, and have a short, rounded, dark tail. 

 Males have an orange comb above the eye, and, 

 on each side of the neck, an area of orange skin 

 that inflates during the courtship display. Tufts 

 of feathers (pinnae) extend down each side of the 

 neck, and point forward during courtship. 



The Attwater's prairie chicken is distinguished 

 from the lesser prairie chicken (T. pallidicinctus), 

 which still occurs in the Texas panhandle, by 

 orange instead of reddish throat pouches. From 

 the northern race {T. cupido pinnatus), formerly 

 found in Texas, it differs in having the back of 

 the tarsus unfeathered. From the extinct heath 

 hen {T. cupido cupido), it differs in having pure 

 white axillaries and rounded pinnae. 



Color plates appear in Lehmann (1941) and 

 Peterson (1947); black-and-white illustrations 

 appear in Lehmann and Mauermann (1963). 



RANGE 



This species' range formerly extended over 

 the entire Gulf coastal prairie of southwestern 

 Louisiana and Texas, and south to the Rio 

 Grande (Lehmann and Mauermann 1963). At 

 present, it is confined to small, disjunct popula- 

 tions scattered over about 12 Texas counties, 

 mainly Refugio, Austin, and Colorado. It is extir- 

 pated in Louisiana. 



RANGE MAP 



Present range (W. Shifflett personal com- 

 munication) is shaded on the following page. 



STATES/COUNTIES 



Texas Aransas, Austin, Brazoria, Cham- 



bers,' Colorado, Dewitt, Fort Bend, 

 Galveston, Goliad, Harris, Jefferson,' 

 Refugio, Victoria, Waller,' Wharton. 



HABITAT 



Coastal grassland prairie approaches ideal 

 conditions when (1) vegetation is diversified and 

 native grasses, sedges, legumes, brush, and dwarfed 

 trees provide a variety of cover; (2) knolls, ridges, 

 and hog wallows are frequent and soils vary from 

 loose sand to tight clay or silt; and (3) permanent 

 sources of water are not more than 0.2 km apart 

 (Lehmann 1941). 



Cultivation causes immediate abandonment, 

 but the birds will usually return after the field lies 



' Indicates counties in which V. Lehmann (personal com- 

 munication) believes the species may no longer occur. 



fallow for a year or two (V. Lehmann personal 

 communication). 



FOOD AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR 



Food of adults is 85% vegetable and 15% 

 animal; this ratio is approximately reversed in the 

 young. Favorite plants are ruellia {Ruellia ciliosa), 

 perennial ragweed {Ambrosia psilostachya), black- 

 berry {Rubus sp.), doveweed {Croton sp.), and 

 sensitive briar {Neptunia lutea); favorite animals 

 are grasshoppers and beetles. 



Except during breeding season, adults feed 

 twice daily (dawn to 08:00 and 16:00 to dark). 

 Gizzards collected at noon are usually empty. 

 Feeding is slow and dehberate. Their capacity is 

 large; 20 cc in gullet and 30 cc in gizzard. The 

 variety of foods found in a stomach is im- 

 mense—up to 29 kinds of food and more than 

 1,300 items (Lehmann 1941). 



SHELTER REQUIREMENTS 



These birds require light to medium cover for 

 roosting, especially on gentle slopes, and medium 

 heavy to heavy cover for nesting and escape. 

 Light cover is necessary for booming (see Repro- 

 duction) and feeding. Hence, considerable habi- 

 tat diversity is required (Lehmann 1941). Fallow 

 rice fields and weedy, sandy slopes are used for 

 brood habitat in Austin and Colorado counties 

 (W. Shifflett personal communication). 



NESTING OR BEDDING 



Prairie chickens usually nest on well-drained 

 mounds or ridges near trails and within 1.3 km of 

 a booming ground. The nest is a shallow depres- 

 sion about 18 cm in diameter, more or less roofed 

 over by a medium to heavy grass cover, and lined 

 with bits of dead grass and a few feathers (Leh- 

 mann 1941). 



RITUAL REQUIREMENTS 



Preferred booming sites are short-grass flats, 

 often not elevated, 0.4 ha or so in area, and sur- 

 rounded by moderate grass cover suitable for 

 nesting. 



OTHER CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL 

 REQUIREMENTS 



Permanent sources of surface water no more 

 than 1.6 km apart are a must. Heavy rainfall in 

 late April or May is a hazard to nesting (Lehmann 

 1941). 



