Last year on a tip from a friend we got up super early and made a trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula before the sun rose to find a "Lek" of Sharp Tailed Grouse who were in the middle of their riotous matting season. It was amazing!
The sharp tailed grouse are one of the larger grouse. They have sharp pointed tails which stick straight up when the birds are displaying. They are often mistaken for their cousin, the prairie chicken.
One of the more interesting details of the sharp tailed grouse relates to their matting dance. The males gather on a group breeding ground called a lek and strut their stuff for the females. The males point their tails up, spread their wings, hold their heads low, and stamp their feet in a way that makes them look like wined up toys. The males all dance at the same time as a part of their fight over territory and to impress females.
This past weekend we made the trip to the U.P. again to check things out. It is a bit early (there is still snow on the ground) but some of the grouse are gathering and starting to dance.
Imagine if you can, sitting in your car on the side of a country dirt road, the sun coming up, frost on the ground and a couple dozen grouse dancing like wined up toys, and make sounds that range from cooing, clucking, rattling, and clucking. It's a symphony of sounds. They vibrate, posture, run, and fight. It is an awesome display. For me it is a phenomenon that make me marvel at nature and how things work.
