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All in a day's walk: Sage-grouse in summer

Jun 30, 2022

In summer, the sun rises early in a cloudless blue sky above sagebrush country, and school is in session for broods of greater sage-grouse.

Greater sage-grouse hen and chicks on a ridgecrest — A sage-grouse hen and her brood on a summer’s day in southwest Wyoming | *USFWS/Tom Koerner*

Half a dozen chicks have hatched in a typical nest and remain vulnerable to predators: coyotes & badgers, among other mammals, eagles & hawks from above.

The chicks themselves are hungry and thirsty.

Young sage-grouse chicks huddle in the shade of sagebrush — Recently hatched greater sage-grouse chicks | *Gerrit Vyn/Cornell Lab of Ornithology*

The chicks grow, and their mother begins leading them afield. As during nesting, they need tall vegetation – for protection and shade, and as a source of food.

A young sage-grouse in mixed sage-steppe vegetation — A growing chick finds nourishment in sagebrush and other rangeland vegetation. | *USFWS/Tom Koerner*

Sage-grouse eat the summer leaves and flowers of sagebrush, grasses and forbs. Plants whose leaves and stems are overly coarse or prickly host insects and spiders that are palatable and nutritious. The occasional anthill is another good find.

An anthill shows scratchings of sage-grouse looking for food — Scratchings left behind from a greater sage-grouse digging for Western harvester ants | *USFWS/Tom Koerner*

Finding food and water while evading predators and other hazards is the order of every long day. Effects of wildland fire, drought and climate change can complicate the search.