Life History of the Greater Prairie Chicken 



General Remarks 



Earlier workers, notably Bent (1932) and Schwartz (1944 and 

 1945), have discussed the life history of the greater prairie chicken 

 in detail. In the autumn, flocks or packs assemble and function as 

 a unit in their daily movements throughout the ensuing winter. 

 These packs may be all of one sex or of both sexes. With the ad- 

 vent of warmer weather — anytime from late January to early 

 March — the males separate themselves from the females, and be- 

 gin to visit places, known as booming-grounds, where territorial dis- 

 putes and courtship displays take place each morning and evening. 

 The duration and intensity of these disputes and displays depend 

 to some extent on the condition of the weather. In late March 

 the females begin to visit the booming grounds, and usually in the 

 first half of April a peak of mating activity is reached. 



Nests are made in dry vegetation left from the previous season. 

 Some sets of eggs hatch before mid-May, but most of them hatch 

 in late May or early June, after an incubation period of 22 or 23 

 days. Late nests, which are re-nestings after failure of an eariler 

 attempt, hatch as late as July 18, but there are few of these as com- 

 pared with those that hatch in May and June. 



The males continue courtship activities until hot weather, usually 

 until early June. Pursuit of the females is not hmited to the 

 booming grounds, but occurs wherever the females are found. 

 As attendance at the booming grounds wanes, the flocks of males 

 disintegrate. The resulting singles and small flocks spend their 

 time loafing about swales and other places where suitable shade 

 is provided by shrubs and tall grass. Females that are not success- 

 ful in bringing off a brood follow the same routine. 



The females that succeed in bringing off a brood stay with their 

 young all summer, and frequent both permanent grasslands and 



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