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Photo © Brian Collins
Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus), a Special Concern species in Wisconsin, requires a mosaic of dense grass and shrubs with rich forb and insect foods during nesting and brood-rearing and a bare open area for lekking. During winter, it often relies on riparian areas and other sites that support deciduous trees and shrub for feeding, roosting, and escape cover. It also utilizes non-native cultivated grains and hedgerow species. The recommended avoidance period is April 15 - July 31.
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | SC/H |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S1 |
| Global Rank | G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
A guidance document is not available at this time. However, the bird calendar [PDF] contains dates for avoiding impacts to this and other rare Wisconsin birds when planning management activities.
Click to view a larger version. Please considering donating a photo to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program for educational uses. Photo use
In Wisconsin the Sharp-tailed Grouse requires relatively large areas of barrens habitat to maintain viable breeding populations.
Photo © Brian Collins.
Photo © Robert Queen.
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with Sharp-tailed Grouse. Only natural communities for which Sharp-tailed Grouse is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
| Natural community | Score |
|---|---|
| Oak Barrens | 3 |
| Pine Barrens | 3 |
| Bracken Grassland | 2 |
| Dry Prairie | 2 |
| Dry-mesic Prairie | 2 |
| Northern Sedge Meadow | 2 |
| Oak Opening | 2 |
| Surrogate Grasslands | 2 |
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for Sharp-tailed Grouse. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
| Ecological landscape | score |
|---|---|
| Northwest Sands | 3 |
| Central Sand Plains | 2 |
| North Central Forest | 2 |
| Northeast Sands | 2 |
| Superior Coastal Plain | 2 |
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.