MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-6.JPG
Researchers track a mother sage-grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, to study her chick’s behavior. Sage-grouses are found only in sagebrush country in the west nesting on the ground and eating sagebrush leaves which are a staple of the grouse’s winter diet. The sage-grouse faces extinction as populations plunged by 80 percent according to Audubon.
As oil and gas fields multiply and climate change intensifies, grassland habitats disappear and birds like the Lesser Prairie-Chicken pay the price. Hens lay an average of 6-9 eggs in a ground nest hidden under sagebrush. Numbers are declining, largely due to habitat loss from fire, invasive plants and
- Copyright
- MELISSA FARLOW
- Image Size
- 6000x4054 / 14.4MB
- Keywords
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animals, biological research, birds, centrocercus urophasianus, geography, grasslands, grouse, idaho, juvenile birds, moscow (idaho), north america, ornithological research, people with animals, people with wild animals, prairies, research, rocky mountain states, sage grouse, scientists and technicians, scientists in the field, united states, university of idaho
- Contained in galleries
- National Geographic Public Lands MM6659 magazine, B50041 book
