Sharp-tailed grouse are a prairie grouse closely associated 

 with grasslands. When grassland in good condition is found, 

 sharptails are usually present. A combination of grasslands, 

 brushy areas and agriculture produces ideal habitat. Consequently, 

 land use practices such as overgrazing and brush eradication can 

 be very detrimental to sharptails. Both practices destroy the 

 sharptails' food and cover. Also weed destruction programs elimi- 

 nate many forbs and brush species which are important to these 

 grouse. Public land managers can expect viable sharptail popu- 

 lations on their lands if they will protect sharptail habitat from 

 overgrazing, brush destruction and weed eradication practices. 

 The following is a list of State, CMR and BLM lands that have 

 been identified as lands that have above-average importance for 

 sharptails: 



State - S16, T20N, R16E; S25, T22N, RISE; S16 , T22N, R17E. 



BLM - S6, T22N, R22E; S9 , T22N, R17E; S12, T22N, R16E; 

 S21, T20N, R19E; NW^gSl, T21N, R22E. 



CMR - SB's S32 and SW% S7, T22N, R23E. 



H ungarian Partridge 



Western Segment 



Distribution 



The Hungarian partridge is the most abundant and widely 

 distributed of all the upland game birds found in the study area. 

 Figure 24 presents the distribution of breeding pairs, broods, 

 and coveys found during the study. Observations of 1,940 Huns 

 were made. The Hungarian partridge is found throughout the study 

 area from small grain fields to the sagebrush-grassland river 

 breaks. Habitat use data from 1977 showed the predominant use of 

 grassland and small grain areas year-round, with increased use 

 of built-up areas (i.e., shelter belts, home sites) in winter. 

 In general, this species uses small grain areas in association 

 with grasslands or built-up areas which provide necessary cover. 

 Its local numbers and survival depend upon man's activities. 

 In much of the area, the only cover for this species is shelter- 

 belts, abandoned homesteads, unmowed or unburned borrow pits, 

 etc. When these areas are cleared by human activities, the 

 necessary winter cover is lost and a local covey will cease to 

 exist. During severe winters coveys made extensive use of 

 plowed roadsides and fairly heavy vehicle mortality occurred. 



Population Characteristics 



Average brood size was 9.3 in 1976, 11.2 in 1977, 12.2 in 

 1978. Reduction in covey sizes was noted throughout the fall 

 and winter. The average covey size during the summer of 1977 

 was 13.2. This declined to 12 during the fall and 8.1 by 

 winter. Analysis of winter data indicates that most of the 

 winter mortality occurred between January and February. 



59 



