Habitat
Mid-grass prairie with or without interspersed shinnery oak or sand sagebrush, dwarf shrub-mixed grass vegetation, sometimes interspersed with short-grass.
South-eastern Colorado, south-western Kansas, Oklahoma, eastern New Mexico and north-western Texas.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 20,000 - 40,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status VU
Loss of prairie habitat through conversion to cropland, grazing pressure from sheep, herbicides, hunting, are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Lesser Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) [XC363092]
by id from Mescalero Sands, Chaves County, New Mexico, United States (male lekking sounds)
Lesser Prairie Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) [XC231910]
by Scott Olmstead from Campo, CO, United States (lek sounds)
Subspecies
Frequently considered a subspecies of Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido).
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Sympatric with the Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) in west-central Kansas, which is larger, darker and has yellow-orange air-sacs.
References
See References.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet