This fellow came the closest to me and you can see some of the battle scars on his purple air sacks from the fights.
The dance includes the stomping of feet, rubbing the two middle tail feathers together while the tail is held high, puffing out the purple air sacks on the neck and extending the bright yellow combs on the head, spreading the wings and dancing in circles. All this to attract the females. Show-offs.
Here a hen comes in and surveys the 20 males looking for a suitable mate. Breeding happens so fast with Sharptails, that by the time you realize something is happening it is over. I have never been able to capture the breeding being done.
After the sun came up, a young male tried to horn in on the dominate males near the middle of the lek. First one of the older males would chase him, running through the thick dead grass or flying after him. I was lucky enough to capture a couple of these chases.
Another.....
Just another great start of a wild day in Idaho.
11 comments:
These birds are strong, rich yellow hues on their head. we don't hsve thst species here unfortunately.so colourful with the strong, rich yellow hues on its head. We don't hsve thst species here unfortunstely. Thssnks for the grest grouse photo displays.
Your spring mornings are just full of action and color. Thanks again for sharing.
you are lucky to have these birds close by. I envy you.
Very cool! I've heard that grouse are amazing to watch when they're courting; you're lucky to have not only seen them, but had the chance to photograph them!
Wow fantastic set of pictures Bill. The colors of this bird are amazing and your pictures are simply stunning!
These images show more of their colourations and they are stunning too~ Great set of series for these Bill!
Always such a joy to see a new post from you pop up on my Google Reader.
The colors on these pictures seem to show up even better than on the last post. Both were a treat.
Fantastic shots, Bill.
I get up to Manitoulin Island every couple of years to see a Sharp-tailed lek there, its always a thrill.
wow, gorgeous series, Bill. Love your photos!
Wow those colours are amazing again Bill. D.
Your nature photographs are always amazing. But then nature is amazing. What is special is that you manage to take a picture of it.
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