26 April 2025, Flying home

Last night was the end of the Grouse Lek Extravaganza in Colorado so today I’m flying home to Pittsburgh with memories of dancing chickens in my head.

By now you may think that North America is the only place where chickens dance, but I saw little bustards (Tetrax tetrax) in Spain last September who molt into breeding plumage in late winter and dance to impress the drab-colored ladies in March.

In spring, male little bustards assemble on the lek, puff their spiffy black and white necks, and perform a stamp, click, leap and tweet dance.

I wonder how he makes that Clicking sound.

Like the greater sage-grouse and greater prairie chicken, the little bustard is listed as Near Threatened because of habitat loss throughout its range. Though it breeds in Southern Europe and in Western and Central Asia …

Europe holds around 40% of the global breeding range, but may hold as much as 80-90% of the global population. … The European population is estimated to be declining by 30-49% in three generations (30.9 years).

— IUCN Red List: Little bustard population assessment

See the little bustard’s range map at the link.