56 



( 



resulted in the 18.6 percent decline in the number of breeding 

 males. One brood with 8 young was observed in 1981. 



There are approximately 0.12 dancing grounds per square mile 

 in the Sweeney-Snyder area. Schwarzkoph (198O) reported 0.12 

 grounds per square mile in the Colstrip area. Martin found 

 0.22 in the Otter Creek drainage (1980a) and .09 per square mile 

 in the Saroy Creek drainage (1980c). 



Observations of grouse not on dancing grounds (Figure 40) 

 indicate the strong possibility of a dancing ground in or near 

 Sand Coulee in the southwestern corner of the study area. 



Sage Grouse 



Three sage grouse strutting grounds were located on or adjacent 

 to the Sweeney-Snyder study area (Figure 40). The number of 

 male birds attending decreased from 7.0 in 198O to 6.3 in 1981 

 (Table 17). Drought conditions were most likely responsible for 

 this decline. No broods were observed on the study area during 

 the study. 



The vegetation map (Figure 2), which shows the ponderosa pine 

 type covering most of the study area, and very little sagebrush 

 explains the paucity of sage grouse numbers in the area. 



Merriam's Turkey 



Several sightings of turkeys were made during the study (Figure 40) 

 These occurred in the heads of the Cherry, Miller, Cow and Eagle 

 Creek drainages. All were in the northeast portion of the 

 study area, mostly during the spring months. 



Ring-necked Pheasant 



Ring-necked pheasants are found in small numbers on the study 

 area primarily at the lower ends of the Rosebud Creek tributaries. 

 The lack of water and agricultural development in the area 

 severely limited pheasant distribution and numbers. 



The Rosebud Creek bottoms are excellent pheasant habitat. A 

 pheasant crow count was conducted along 15 miles of Rosebud 

 Creek road Just to the west of the Sweeney-Snyder study area. The 

 average number of calls per two minute stop in 198O was 21.9 

 and was 19.6 in 1981. This is slightly better than the 17.8 

 and 18.6 calls per stop for 198O and I98I, respectively reported 

 for the lower 20 miles of Rosebud Creek (Knapp et al. I98I). 



Waterfowl 



Four soecies of waterfowl game birds were observed on the 

 Sweeney-Snyder study area (Table I8). It is possible that all 

 of them may breed in the area (Skaar 198O), however, no broods 

 were observed during the two summers of this study. Extreme 

 drought conditions in southeastern Montana resulted in the 



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