Tympanuchus Twins

Greater Prairie-Chicken
January 21, 2012

Prairie Grouse is a term used to describe the three North American birds in the genus, Tympanuchus: Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Greater Prairie-Chicken, and Sharp-tailed Grouse. The latter two species are found in central South Dakota, and I saw both of them yesterday in a field north of Fort Pierre.

Sharp-tailed Grouse
January 21, 2012

When I first saw the group of seven or eight prairie grouse, I thought they were all Sharp-tailed Grouse. However, when I looked closely at them I could see that one of them was darker. It was a Greater Prairie-Chicken.

Greater Prairie-Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido

Though they are very similar in appearance, there are two key differences between the Sharp-tailed Grouse and the Greater Prairie-Chicken. First, prairie chickens are darker, and have dark bars on the undersides. Sharp tails have chevron-shaped spots on their undersides, and appear much lighter in color.

Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus

The other difference is the shape and color of the tail. Greater Prairie-Chickens have dark, squared-off tails. Sharp-tailed Grouse have lighter colored tails that come to a point.

So, they're not exactly identical twins, but Tympanuchus cupido and Tympanuchus phasianellus are two very similar and amazing birds of the Great Plains.