In mid-April, I was fortunate enough to witness greater sage-grouse courtship displays on Pathfinder Ranches in south-central Wyoming. Below is a short film I edited together from the footage I shot from this trip accompanied with a short essay about these birds. Platte Basin Timelapse will continue to develop the larger story about grouse species within the Platte Basin, so stay tuned.
You’ll hear them before you see them
Crepuscular creatures that make home in the sea of sage
The Greater Sage-Grouse.
Dancing for millennia on ancient mating grounds
Displaying their brilliant air sacs
And vibrating their razor-sharp tails
All in hope to impress the female.
It’s no wonder they are called North America’s Bird of Paradise.
A species in peril.
Sage-grouse once roamed the west by the millions
Now there are fewer than a half million
Across 11 western states.
Miles of sagebrush compromised by development;
Native plants choked out by droughts, invasives, and wildfire.
Habitat loss for the Greater Sage-Grouse, and many other species.
Can we come together to conserve the sagebrush habitat?
As the old saying goes, if you save the bird, you save the herd;
Protect sage-grouse.
