Animal
Greater sage-grouse
The greater sage-grouse is a big bird that lives among sagebrush bushes. In spring, the males puff up their white chests and show off. Sagebrush leaves are its main food in winter.
The greater sage-grouse is a large grouse that lives only where sagebrush grows, in the dry shrublands of western North America. In spring, males gather on open dancing grounds called leks, puff out their white chests, inflate two yellow air sacs and fan their spiky tails to win a female. In winter it eats almost nothing but sagebrush leaves.
Centrocercus urophasianus is a lekking grouse restricted to the sagebrush (Artemisia) shrublands of the interior northwest of North America, now almost confined to the USA. BirdLife International assessed it as Vulnerable for the IUCN Red List (assessed 17 June 2025, published 2025) because of a long, continuing rapid decline driven by the loss and degradation of sagebrush, with 289,000 to 550,000 mature individuals (best estimate 350,000).
Photo: Bureau of Land Management, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the greater sage-grouse
The greater sage-grouse is a big, round bird with a long, spiky tail.
It lives among bushes called sagebrush. The male has a black throat and a fluffy white chest.
The greater sage-grouse is a large grouse with a chunky, round body, a small head and a long, spiky tail. Its feathers are mottled gray and brown, with a black belly. The male has a black head and throat and a fluffy white ruff on his chest. The female is plainer, which helps her stay hidden on her nest.
It is about 58 to 76 centimeters long and weighs about 1.5 to 3.5 kilograms. As its name suggests, it is never found far from sagebrush.
Centrocercus urophasianus is a grouse (family Phasianidae). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service describes a large bird with a chunky, round body, small head and long tail, mottled gray-brown with a black belly; males have a black head and throat and a fluffy white breast ruff that, in display, surrounds a pair of inflatable yellow air sacs, and females a dusky cheek patch set off by white marks behind the eye.
The Animal Diversity Web (ADW) calls it the largest North American grouse and sexually dimorphic: females are more cryptically mottled, lack the air sacs and have a much shorter tail. Audubon gives 58 to 76 centimeters, a wingspan of 86 to 97 centimeters and 1.5 to 3.5 kilograms; average adult weights recorded on Wikidata are about 3.2 kilograms for males and 1.7 kilograms for females.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.58 to 0.76 m
- Wingspan
- 0.86 to 0.97 m
- Weight
- 1.5 to 3.5 kg
Sagebrush country
Sage-grouse live on dry, open land covered with sagebrush bushes.
They live in the western United States and a small part of Canada.
Greater sage-grouse live only in sagebrush country: dry plains, high valleys, rocky mesas and mountain slopes where sagebrush grows. They need it all year, for food, nesting and shelter.
Today they live almost only in the western United States, mostly in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Nevada, with a few left in Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada. In late spring and summer, mothers lead their chicks to wet meadows and fields, where there are more plants and insects to eat.
The IUCN describes the species as restricted to the sagebrush shrublands of the interior northwest of North America, now almost confined to the USA, with few remaining in Alberta and Saskatchewan; the largest populations are in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Nevada, with fewer in Oregon, Utah, North and South Dakota and Colorado, and isolated populations in Washington and along the California-Nevada border. It lists elevations from 900 to 2,900 meters.
Audubon describes sagebrush plains, foothills and mountain slopes, but only near sagebrush, and notes that in very dry country birds may fly several miles to water in the morning and evening. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calls sagebrush steppe its only habitat, and says hens lead broods to irrigated pastures, wet meadows and alfalfa fields as well as sagebrush.
Continent
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Sagebrush shrublands of the interior western United States, mostly Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Nevada, with a few birds left in Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada. Only a small part of each country shown is sage-grouse country. It no longer lives in British Columbia or in several US states where it once lived.
Places: Canada and United States.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Canada and Mexico.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
A diet of sagebrush
In winter, sage-grouse eat sagebrush leaves.
In summer they eat flowers, buds and some bugs too. The chicks eat lots of bugs.
In fall and winter, a sage-grouse may eat almost nothing but the soft leaves and new shoots of sagebrush. In spring and summer it adds leaves, flowers and buds of many other plants, and some insects.
Unlike most grouse, it cannot digest hard seeds. Very young chicks cannot digest sagebrush either, so for their first weeks they eat mostly insects, such as beetles, grasshoppers and ants, along with soft plants.
Audubon says the fall and winter diet may be almost entirely sagebrush leaves and fresh shoots, with leaves, flowers and buds of many plants and some insects at other seasons, and that its digestive system, unlike that of most grouse, is not adapted for hard seeds. ADW explains that it lacks a strong gizzard, so it eats mainly soft foods, and gives sagebrush as 60 to 80% of the summer diet and nearly 100% in winter.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says chicks cannot digest sagebrush in their first three weeks, so forbs and insects, especially beetles, grasshoppers and ants, make up most of their food, and that dandelions and other forbs matter for females preparing to lay. ADW reports insects as 60% of the diet in the first week, falling to 5% by 12 weeks.
Did you know?
Sage-grouse sometimes fly far to find water.
In very dry country, sage-grouse may fly several miles to water in the morning and evening.
Audubon says that in very dry country birds may fly several miles to water morning and evening.
A body made for showing off
The male has two yellow air sacs on his chest.
He fills them with air when he shows off. His spiky tail opens like a fan.
A male sage-grouse has a special display outfit. Hidden in the white feathers of his chest are two air sacs, yellow or olive-green. When he shows off, he fills them with air so they bulge out of his white ruff.
His long, pointed tail feathers spread out like a starburst, and he droops his wings. Females have no air sacs, a shorter tail and more speckled, camouflaged feathers.
In display the male becomes almost spherical, puffing up his chest, drooping his wings and fanning his tail into a starburst (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). The breast ruff surrounds two inflatable air sacs, described as yellow by Audubon and the Fish and Wildlife Service and as olive-green by ADW; ADW calls them esophageal sacs, absent in females. The tail feathers of males are long and tapered with barring.
Audubon describes the tail as long, spiky and wedge-shaped, and the wings as rounded and fingered. ADW notes the female's more cryptic plumage, which helps her blend in while nesting.
A nest under the sagebrush
The mother makes a nest on the ground under a sagebrush bush.
The chicks leave the nest soon after they hatch.
After mating, the female builds a nest by herself: a shallow bowl scraped into soft soil under a sagebrush bush or a clump of grass, lined with leaves, grass, twigs and feathers from her own breast. She usually lays 7 to 9 olive-buff eggs dotted with brown, and keeps them warm alone for 25 to 27 days.
The downy chicks leave the nest soon after hatching. Their mother looks after them, but they find their own food. They can make short flights at one to two weeks old and stay with her until fall.
Audubon gives a clutch of usually 7 to 9 (sometimes 6 to 13) olive-buff eggs evenly dotted with brown, female-only incubation of 25 to 27 days, a nest built by the female in a shallow, sparsely lined depression under sagebrush or a clump of grass, and downy young that leave soon after hatching, feed themselves while the female tends them and make short flights at 1 to 2 weeks. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service adds that the bowl is lined with leaves, grasses, forbs, twigs and feathers plucked from her breast, and that nests tend to have at least two less vegetated sides, which presumably serve as escape routes.
ADW says the young stay with their mother until fall, then join single-sex winter flocks, and that yearlings go to a lek the next spring.
Dancing on the lek
In spring, many males meet on an open patch of ground.
They puff up, fan their tails and make popping sounds. The females watch and choose.
Every spring, males gather at dawn on open patches of ground called leks, often the same ones year after year. Up to 70 or more males may strut there with chests puffed out and tails spread.
Each male fills his air sacs, throws his head back and lets the air out with a loud pop, and he brushes his wings to make a swishing sound. Females visit the lek, watch, and mate with one male. The oldest, most experienced males hold the middle of the lek, and females usually choose them.
Audubon describes traditional display grounds used for years, with up to 70 or more males; in display the male puffs out his white chest, inflates the two air sacs, raises and spreads his tail and droops his wings, then throws his head back as the sacs deflate with a loud popping sound. The oldest, most experienced males compete for central positions and are usually chosen. ADW adds that males hold leks from March to May, most actively at dawn and dusk, that older cocks take 75 to 80% of the territories, and that females attend for 2 to 3 days and mate once; it likens the plop to a large rock dropped into deep water.
The Fish and Wildlife Service says leks lie in clear areas such as broad ridgetops, grassy swales, dry lakebeds and sometimes recently burned ground. Birds may be resident all year or move seasonally.
Did you know?
The males make a popping sound.
When a male lets the air out of his air sacs, it makes a loud pop, like a big rock dropped into deep water.
Air released from the sacs makes a loud pop (Audubon), which ADW likens to a large rock dropped into deep water.
Vulnerable: losing the sagebrush
There are fewer sage-grouse than there used to be.
People are working to protect the sagebrush they need.
The greater sage-grouse is listed as vulnerable. Its numbers have been falling for many years because the sagebrush it depends on has been cleared for farms, roads, energy projects and buildings. Fires spread by invasive grasses and spreading conifer trees damage what is left.
It has disappeared from British Columbia and from several US states. Today there are about 289,000 to 550,000 adults. Many groups of people, including 63 local working groups, are working together to protect sagebrush country.
BirdLife International assessed Centrocercus urophasianus as Vulnerable (criteria A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd) for the IUCN Red List (assessed 17 June 2025, published 2025), owing to a long-standing, continuing rapid decline that has brought it close to extirpation in Canada. The estimate of 289,000 to 550,000 mature individuals (best estimate 350,000) is built from 85,674 males counted on 3,559 known leks in 2015.
The IUCN names sagebrush loss to agriculture, energy infrastructure, roads and development; fire made more frequent by invasive grasses such as cheatgrass; spreading conifers; overgrazing; natural gas development reducing lek attendance; and West Nile virus. It was lost from British Columbia, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. Hunting is still allowed in seven states but limited to 5 to 10% of the recorded population. The Fish and Wildlife Service reports an average fall of 2.3% a year since the late 1960s (North American Breeding Bird Survey).
IUCN Red List
How is the greater sage-grouse doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable (this animal)
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Vulnerable
At high risk of disappearing from the wild.
Amazing facts
-
Sage-grouse dance on the same patches of ground every year.
Sage-grouse dancing grounds, called leks, can be used year after year.
Audubon notes that traditional display grounds may be used for years.
-
A sage-grouse cannot eat hard seeds.
Unlike most grouse, sage-grouse cannot digest hard seeds, so they eat soft leaves and buds.
Its digestive system is not adapted for hard seeds (Audubon); ADW links this to the lack of a strong gizzard.
-
The males make a popping sound.
When a male lets the air out of his air sacs, it makes a loud pop, like a big rock dropped into deep water.
Air released from the sacs makes a loud pop (Audubon), which ADW likens to a large rock dropped into deep water.
-
Sage-grouse sometimes fly far to find water.
In very dry country, sage-grouse may fly several miles to water in the morning and evening.
Audubon says that in very dry country birds may fly several miles to water morning and evening.
Words to know
- sagebrush
- a shrub that covers huge areas of dry plains and valleys in western North America
- lek
- an open patch of ground where males gather to show off to females
- air sac
- a pouch on a male sage-grouse's chest that he fills with air
- ruff
- a ring of fluffy feathers around a bird's neck or chest
- invasive
- a plant or animal brought from somewhere else that spreads and harms the local wildlife
- gizzard
- a muscular part of a bird's stomach that grinds up hard food
Discovery challenge
-
Which plant do sage-grouse need?
Which plant do greater sage-grouse depend on all year?
Which plant genus is the greater sage-grouse's habitat tied to?
- Sagebrush
- Palm trees
- Seaweed
Show the answer
Sagebrush
Sagebrush! It is in their name.
Sagebrush gives them food, nest sites and shelter all year.
Sagebrush (Artemisia) habitats in both breeding and non-breeding seasons (IUCN).
-
What is a lek?
What happens on a sage-grouse lek?
What is a lek in the greater sage-grouse's mating system?
- A place where males show off to females
- A nest in a tree
- A pond where chicks swim
Show the answer
A place where males show off to females
The males dance there!
Males gather there to strut and pop, and females come to choose a mate.
A traditional display ground where males display and females visit to mate (Audubon).
-
What does a sage-grouse eat in winter?
What does a greater sage-grouse eat almost all winter?
What makes up nearly all of the winter diet?
- Sagebrush leaves
- Fish
- Hard seeds
Show the answer
Sagebrush leaves
Sagebrush leaves!
In fall and winter it may eat almost only sagebrush leaves and shoots.
Sagebrush leaves and fresh shoots (Audubon); nearly 100% of the winter diet (ADW).
-
What does the male fill with air?
What does a displaying male inflate on his chest?
Which structures does the male inflate during display?
- Two air sacs
- His tail
- His feet
Show the answer
Two air sacs
Two air sacs!
Two bare air sacs bulge out of his white ruff, then pop when he lets the air out.
Two inflatable air sacs inside the white breast ruff (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Audubon).
Places where you might see it
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Canada
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate the sagebrush country of western North America where greater sage-grouse live.
- Describe how a male sage-grouse displays on a lek and how females choose a mate.
- Explain why sage-grouse depend on sagebrush for food and nesting.
- Name the main threats to sagebrush habitat, such as clearing, invasive grasses and fire.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might females choose the males in the middle of the lek?
- How could one plant be so important to one bird?
- What could people do to help an animal that needs one kind of habitat?
Try at home or in class
- Balloon display: blow up two small balloons, hold them against a white paper ruff and watch a partner act out a strutting sage-grouse. Then let the air out slowly and listen.
- Sagebrush map: on a blank map of North America, color the western states named on this page and the corner of Canada where sage-grouse still live.
Key vocabulary: sagebrush, lek, air sac, ruff, invasive, gizzard
Where these facts come from
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- Centrocercus urophasianus (BirdLife International, assessed 17 June 2025, published 2025) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Centrocercus urophasianus: range, population, ecology and threats text , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Centrocercus urophasianus: IUCN Red List global assessment record (BirdLife International 2025), IUCN checklist on GBIF , GBIF
- Greater Sage-Grouse (Guide to North American Birds, text by Kenn Kaufman) , National Audubon Society
- Greater Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) , U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Centrocercus urophasianus (sage grouse) , Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- File:Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus).jpg (Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management, 21 April 2012) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Picture credits
- Photo: Bureau of Land Management, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · source