Possible Role of Behavior in Regulating Greater Prairie Chicken Populations

Abstract

This paper presents data on reproductive behavior gathered during a 5-year study of greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in northeastern Kansas. Data were collected by direct observation and by radio-telemetry on a 6,000-acre study area. Numbers of male prairie chickens on booming grounds decreased between March and May each year. Only about 50 percent of the males were territory-owners on booming grounds during the peak of mating activity. The fate of the non-booming males was unknown. Aggressive behavior was evident in groups of females visiting booming grounds during the height of the mating season. Dominant females prevented or at least delayed the mating of subordinate females. Three instances of greater prairie chicken renesting were observed; one bird renested twice. There were two peaks of mating activity, the second may have reflected renesting activity. Success of six nests begun before May 1 was 66 percent while that for 13 nests begun after May 1 was only 8 percent. Inter-booming ground movements of both males and females indicated that booming ground areas could not be considered separate gene pools. Courtship display patterns of male greater prairie chickens have been extensively described (Breckenridge 1929, Hamerstrom 1941, Schwartz 1945, Hamerstrom and Hamerstrom 1960, Robel 1964). Essentially no data are available on the preand postnesting behavior of female greater prairie chickens. During an intensive study of prairie chickens in Kansas, data were acquired which may be helpful in determining the role of behavior in population dynamics of 1Contribution No. 1059 Division of Biology, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 66502. prairie chickens. This paper presents some pertinent behavioral data collected between 1964 and 1968. I am indebted to J. Cebula, N. Silvy, C. Viers, and P. Watt, former graduate students at Kansas State University, who assisted in collecting much of the data presented in this paper. John and the late Grover Simpson, owners of the property on which this study was conducted, provided unlimited cooperation. This study was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical Society. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.112 on Wed, 29 Jun 2016 05:33:20 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms REGULATION OF PRAIRIE CHICKEN POPULATIONS * Robel 307

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