Prairie Chicken drumming pictures

[reddog]

I made a special trip out to South Dakota specifically to view the mating dance of the prairie chickens.

It did not disappoint.

It was one of my most enjoyable mornings spent in the great outdoors.

[B. Amish]

awesome scenary.

they put on a great show. there are places to watch them dance in nw mn too.

[TylerS]

Excellent! I've always wanted to do that. It's my understanding there are places to go in northwest Minnesota for that, as well.

Just think: if conservationists and hunters put as much effort into our native birds as we did invasives (i.e. pheasants, chukar, etc.) it's very well possible that disappearing species such as prairie chickens and sage grouse would be a lot more prevalent and, ultimately, huntable.

I'd trade every dang ditch parrot in Nodak for a decent, sustainable population of prairie chickens...

[Musky Buck]

Also near Huntersville,MN our high school science teacher used to go their, not sure if there are birds yet today ?

[R. Miller]

Very cool!

[snapcrackpop]

I spent Easter morning in a blind near Pierre SD with my oldest boy. It was a cold morning, but the best and most calm of the weekend. We walked out under a full moon on a calm morning and could hear the feathered ninjas as soon as we shut the door of the Jeep. We were in for a treat! Within minutes of closing the blind we could hear them returning. We spent the next couple of hours in awe, watching them dance within spitting distance and the purple throated hybrid danced on the roof of our bilind! I will go again.

A couple hours later he had his first prairie dog!

[snapcrackpop]

[muc33]

a couple great pics!

[Matt Breuer]

Great pics, thanks for sharing!

And yes, you can view chickens booming in MN. Call the Nature Conservancy and get your butt up to west-central to NW MN and view them sometime. It's insane... you'll be on sensory overload. Also check out the MN Prairie Chicken Society. Our big joint meeting will be held in NW MN again in the spring of 2013. Anyone interested in the birds can attend lectures and talks, as well as field trips!