SAGE GROUSE 



(Centrocercus urophasianus) 



Also called Sage Hen 



The range of the sage grouse in Montana 

 is indicated in figure 4. It was found that this spe- 

 cies occupies many regions which are not exten- 

 sively sage brush areas. In fact, over one-half 

 of all sage grouse observed occurred in aban- 

 doned fields where stubble, timothy, and weeds, 

 especially oyster plant and mustard, were most 

 common. Only one-fourth of the birds were ob- 

 served in areas dominated by sage. These ob- 

 servations were made during the summer months 

 and it is not our belief that sage grouse remain 

 year around in these areas without sage. Six 

 per cent of the birds observed were seen in cul- 

 tivated grain fields. This use of abandoned and 

 cultivated fields is most important because it has 

 been felt in the past that man's disturbance of the 

 original native vegetation would see the disap- 

 pearance of this grouse from the regions and 

 possibly their complete extinction. 



Our study has shown that the sage grouse 

 is much more closely restricted to the proximity 

 of water than is the sharptail. Since the sage 

 grouse were observed an average of less than 

 one-half mile from water, and the average dis- 

 tance from water for sharptails was about three- 

 fourths of a mile, it is likely that sage grouse 

 drink regularly whereas we have seen no evi- 

 dence to indicate that sharptails need to drink 

 at all. It would seem, then, that in considering 

 areas for transplanting of sage grouse the avail- 

 ability of water must be considered. 



RICHARDSON'S BLUE GROUSE 

 (Dendragopus obscurus richardsoni) 



This is usually called the Blue Grouse. The 

 range of this grouse in Montana is quite exten- 

 sive in the mountainous regions (figure 5). Most 

 of the range lies west of the Continental Divide. 

 It is well known that these grouse nest at quite 

 lew elevations and gradually move up the moun- 

 tain sides during the summer months. The studies 

 in the western counties during the summer of 



COMPARATIVE MONTHLY FLUSHING DISTANCES 



FOR SHARPTAIL GROUSE DURING MONTHS OF 



JUNE JULY AND SEPTEMBER - 1942 



-EGEND 

 JUNE 



O 10 11-25 26-50 51-100 OVER 100 



FLUSHING DISTANCE IN YARDS 



