Gallo delle praterie maggiore

Identificazione

Adults of both sexes are medium to large chicken-like birds, stocky with round wings. They have short tails which are typically rounded. Adult males have orange comb-like feathers over their eyes and dark, elongated head feathers that can be raised or lain along neck. They also possess a circular, un-feathered neck patch which can be inflated while displaying; this, like their comb feathers, is also orange. As with many other bird species, the adult females have shorter head feathers and also lack the male's yellow comb and orange neck patch. Adults are about 43 cm (17 in) long, and weigh between 700–1,200 g (25–42 oz). The greater prairie-chicken has a wingspan range of 69.5–72.5 cm (27.4–28.5 in).

Tassonomia

Nome scientifico

Tympanuchus cupido

Autorità

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Ordine

Galliformi

Famiglia

Phasianidae

Genere

Tympanuchus

Areale e habitat

Migrazione

Resident species

Conservazione

The greater prairie-chicken was almost extinct in the 1930s due to hunting pressure and habitat loss. In Illinois alone, in the 1800s, the prairie-chicken numbered in the millions. It was a popular game bird, and like many prairie birds, which have also suffered massive habitat loss, it is now on the verge of extinction, with the wild bird population at around 200 in Illinois in 2019. It now only lives on small parcels of managed prairie land. Throughout North America, it is thought that their current population has declined severely, to approximately 500,000 individuals.[citation needed] In May 2000, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the greater prairie-chicken as extirpated in its Canadian range (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario). It was again confirmed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in November 2009. Nonetheless, sightings and encounters continue to occur in the south-central regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with southern Ontario, where sightings are extremely rare.<p>In states such as Iowa and Missouri that once had thriving prairie-chicken populations (estimated to be hundreds of thousands), total numbers have dropped to about 500. However, the Missouri Department of Conservation has started a program to import prairie-chickens from Kansas and Nebraska in the hopes that they will be able to repopulate the state and increase that number to 3,000.<p>Central Wisconsin is home to approximately 600 individuals, down from 55,000 when hunting was prohibited in 1954. [citation needed] Though this area was predominately spruce and tamarack marsh before European settlement, early pioneers drained the marshes and attempted to farm the poor soil. As the prairies to the south and west were lost to agriculture and development, and the southern half of Wisconsin was logged, the prairies spread northward into the abandoned farmland. Today, over 30,000 acres are managed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as greater prairie-chicken habitat. Birdwatchers travel from around the world to visit Wisconsin in April for the Central Wisconsin Prairie Chicken Festival, started in 2006 by Golden Sands Resource Conservation &amp; Development Council, Inc.

Tendenza della popolazione

rising