This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Though the Western side of the state continues to struggle with drought, there may be an upside to this past winter's mild weather: chukars are doing well.
This year's helicopter survey counted 101 of the game birds per square mile on the Cedar Mountain range, up from 4.4 chukars per square mile in 2004.
Under the right circumstances, chukars are capable of reproducing rapidly, said Avery Cook, an upland-game project leader for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Female chukars lay seven to 15 eggs per nest. When mild weather and an abundance of food allow most of those chicks to survive, the bird's population explodes.
Chukars aren't the only species doing well this season — rabbit and grouse populations, including the greater sage grouse, are also on the rise.
But there may be more at play than just the weather. Cook said populations of many of these species, chukars included, tend to grow and decline according to some kind of cycle. In 2002, for example, there were 4.5 chukars per square mile; in 2006, that jumped to 97 birds per square mile.
"This is rare, but not unprecedented," Cook said.
Chukars aren't native to Utah, but because they feed on grass seeds, they don't damage native vegetation and don't compete with native species for food, Cook said. So the increased numbers don't pose an ecological threat.
They are, however, a possible point of interest this fall.
"If you want to get out and see chukars, it's easier this year to do that," Cook said.
The birds are "popping up all over the place in areas you would expect them to be" — on rocky ridges topped with grass or sagebrush in Utah's Western mountain ranges, Cook said.
"Look at areas where you have a high percentage of bare rock on the landscape," he said. "You'll often find them concentrated just at the bottom of cliffs."
The birds are vocal and can be interesting to watch, especially in the mornings, Cook said.
This season should be also good to hunters who hope to bag chukars, too, Cook said. Chukar hunting doesn't require a special permit; a general or combined hunting license should suffice.
But, Cook said, anyone who hopes to capitalize on the chukars' population boom should act quickly — the birds are short-lived.
"A 1- or 2-year-old chukar is getting very old," he said, "and a 3-year-old chukar is ancient."
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