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Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative

Lesser Prairie-chicken

Lesser Prairie-chicken

The Lesser Prairie-Chicken is a grassland-nesting upland bird found in mixed grass, sand-sage and shinnery oak prairies of western Kansas, southeast Colorado, northwest Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, and eastern New Mexico. The chicken once occupied vast regions of these states.

Populations of this at-risk species and the size of their range (habitat)  have declined significantly because of loss of native prairie as well as fragmented and degraded habitat. These factors, combined with recent droughts, have taken its toll on this iconic bird, known for its mating rituals. Nearly 18,000 birds now roam its range.

As a result, NRCS expanded its conservation efforts on private lands in portions of the five states. NRCS established the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative (LPCI) to help ranchers and farmers maintain the viability and profitability of their operations and voluntarily create and enhance Lesser Prairie-Chicken habitat.

Fore more links and valuable information visit The Natural Resoures Conservation Service.