Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse
Photo Courtesy of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus
NatureServe conservation status
Global (G-rank): G5T3
State (S-rank): S2
Utah Wildlife Action Plan status
- SGCN
External links
Species range
Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (hereafter CSTG) is endemic to big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), shrub-steppe, wheatgrass-fescue (Pseudoroegneria-Festuca), pinegrass (Calamagrostis rubescens), mountain shrub, and riparian shrub plant communities in western North America. In Utah, CSTG is now only present in northern Utah.
Ecology
This species experienced range-wide declines in occupied habitat and populations over the last century. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (CSTG) occupy less than 10 percent of their historic range and 95 percent of the remaining birds live in three populations within British Columbia, Colorado/Wyoming and Idaho/Utah. The species disappeared from Oregon, California, and Nevada between 1920 and 1970. In the states where CSTG remain, including Utah, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming, they only occupy a small fraction of their historic range.
In Utah this species occupies just four percent of its former range. CSTG are currently limited to the northern most counties in Utah, and lek count trends indicate continued declines of total number and birds per lek.
Threats or limiting factors
Numerous human actions contribute to declining CSTG populations. Actions and events commonly identified in the literature include conversion of native plant communities to cropland, improper grazing by domestic livestock, use of pesticides, alteration of natural fire regimes, invasion of exotic plants, and urban and rural expansion.
Taxonomy
Woodbury et al. (1949) referred to this species in Utah using the name PEDIOCETES PHASIANELLUS, and Behle and Perry (1975) called it PEDIOECETES PHASIANELLUS.