A group of greater sage grouse milling last week about Highway 65 at the Morgan/Summit county line like teenagers at the mall hardly flinched when two cars blazed through the middle of their courtship ritual. The ominous presence of an eagle scattered the flock of randy birds like a rock thrown in a still pond, but not for long.
"Pioneers called them fools' hens because they were everywhere and you could walk up and whack them on the head," says avid birder and Tribune bird columnist Bill Fenimore.
To be fair, the fool label should probably only be applied during the mating season. As everybody knows, sex, or the possibility of it, has a tendency to make every species a little whacky.
Each spring, scattered sagebrush flats across the country turn into strutting grounds for members of the grouse family. In Utah, that includes greater sage grouse, Gunnison sage grouse and sharp-tailed grouse. Two other grouse species in the state - ruffed and blue - are more discreet when it comes to mating and do not gather in large open areas like their feathered friends.
The traditional mating grounds are known as leks and the majority of them are found in northern Utah. Dean Mitchell, upland game coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources officials says there are 320 historic leks across the state, but that only 202 were active in 2006.
Box Elder County dominates the lek tally, with 92. Rich County is second with 50, followed by Summit, Morgan and Cache counties. Utah's active leks are pretty minor when compared to nearby Nevada where Mitchell says there are 1,500 to 1,600 leks.
Upland game hunters are allowed to pursue greater sage, sharp-tailed, ruffed and blue grouse each fall. The Gunnison sage grouse, with a much smaller and unhunted population, is limited to two active leks in San Juan County.
Utah's greater sage grouse population is estimated at about 23,000. Mitchell said the sage grouse population is on a 10-year cycle with peak years happening on years with zero in them.
"They are building to that peak right now and it should happen in 2010," he said.
Biologists say there are about 100 Gunnison grouse in the state. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to list both species as endangered in the past two years.
Concerns for sage grouse populations in the West include: loss of habitat to energy exploration and development; catastrophic ecological changes like wild fire; mass sage brush die-offs; noxious weed invasion and West Nile virus.
"We have only documented one sage grouse succumbing to West Nile, but it is something we are watching carefully because it has impacted population in other states," Mitchell said. "We have 350 birds with radio transmitters so if they do start to die from West Nile we will know about it."
Looking somewhat like sumo wrestlers, without the diapers of course, males vie for the best spot on the lek hoping their dominance will attract hens in the area.
"The females wait on the periphery, watching to see who has the coolest moves and which are the dominant males and will get to pass their genes on," Fenimore said. "The subadults learn the latest dance steps, if you will, from watching the ritual."
The posturing rarely leads to physical contact, at least between the males, but the birds will sometimes beat each other with their wings to impress the hens and establish dominance.
The males also use a funky "glump-glump-glump" call created during the expansion of two large air sacs on their chest to draw females. The result sounds something like a flexing saw blade underwater.
"It's irresistible to the hens," Fenimore said. "The air sacs develop only during this time of year. They throw their body forward and fill up the sacs and this glump sound comes out. It is pretty unique."
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* BRETT PRETTYMAN can be contacted at brettp@ sltrib.com or 801-257-8902.
Mating season
* GREAT SALT LAKE AUDUBON and The Wild Bird Center in Layton each are holding trips to see the mating rituals of the greater sage grouse near Henefer. Participants should bring binoculars and cameras and expect to spend their time at the viewing spot in the car.
* THE WILD BIRD CENTER'S trip is Saturday and starts with a 5:30 a.m. departure from the store, 1860 N. 1000 West, Layton. Call 801-525-8400 for more information.
* GREAT SALT LAKE AUDUBON is holding its trip to the lek Wednesday with a 5:15 a.m. departure from the ShopKo parking lot in Sugar House. Call Roberta at 801-274-3058 to RSVP.
Lek etiquette
* SAGE GROUSE VIEWING at leks - their traditional mating grounds - is usually easy because the birds are so focused on finding mates. They will, however, leave the area if spooked by people.
* KEEP A DISTANCE from the lek and stay inside the vehicle. The East Canyon lek on Highway 65 at the Summit/Morgan county line provides some of the best sage grouse strut viewing in Utah. The lek is actually on the highway and the birds are accustomed to cars.
* PARK THE CAR and use it as a blind. Be sure to turn off the radio, engine and lights. Sage grouse typically gather at leks from mid-March to early May.
Strutting their stuff
See video and check out a photo gallery of a sage grouse lek at www.sltrib.com/outdoors
