Wisconsin's Prairie Chickens
Conservation and Courtship
Wisconsin's greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus
cupido pinnatus) began its return from near extinction in this state
when, in 1954, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) entered
into a partnership with Wisconsin conservation groups to establish a prairie
chicken management program on the Buena Vista Grasslands in southwestern
Portage County. Successful growth and continuation of this project has saved
a species.
Today, the population of greater prairie chickens changes
yearly, but a few thousand chickens can be found in the central part of the
state each fall. These birds breed, nest, raise their young, and weather the
seasons in a landscape still capable of supporting this native grouse
species.
Learn about the "comeback story" of a bird with a past and,
thanks to the continuing efforts of many people, a bird with a future. Their
original prairie habitat may be gone, but these remarkable birds now thrive
in the "surrogate" grasslands of central Wisconsin where the age-old sounds
of territorial aggression, conflict, and competition are heard each spring.
