Vol. 20 , No. 4 
Page 3 
Responds of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation 
R. L. Westemeier, 
D. R. Vance 
The prairie chicken population on the Bogota Studv Area was cans,,saw 
the spring of 1977 for the l 5 th consecutive year. As in past sor^nns hi™ 
visUors U l e bnnds e “ nd ““ ed , a '°" 9 "‘1 SU PP ,eme «ary observations*^* by ® 
visitors in blinds almost daily from 26 March through 18 April. ' 
only TTlrcent film 111 ? (l9 ”> yielded a total ° f 75 cocks, a decline of 
Thu 17 ? from the 31 cocks counted at Bogota in the spring of 1976 
This count represented a fourth consecutive spring decline a fL ?u! J . 
steady increase from the low point of 37 eockS ^tUT^ng o“ W.^fSi' t,0n * 
highest count was 203 cocks in the spring of 1 973 . 
The decline this spring was anticipated (MWRL 19(9)*9) on t-hp 
... 
xtreme cold and prolonged snow cover this winter had substantial detrimental 
effects on the population of prairie chickens at Bogota. *tr,mental 
