Prairie Chicken Book Project

From late March to early May, male prairie chickens begin their unique, captivating, ritual dawn dance around a booming ground used year after year.

There are four sub-species of prairie chicken in North America, the Attwater's, the Heath Hen, the Greater, and the Lesser prairie chicken; all share the similarity in their features, but live in different parts of North America.

Today, however, one species is already extinct, and the remaining three are all seriously threatened. The heath hen went extinct in 1932 on Martha’s Vineyard, after a lonely male endured for three years.

The Attwater's prairie chickens are now down to only a handful (no more than 50) and only live in the south Texas coastal area, while the Lesser prairie chicken numbers are down to 98 percent. Only the Greater prairie chickens are holding on in the heart of their range found in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. However, with the continuous lost of their precious prairie land, their numbers are falling rapidly.

Missouri has banned prairie chicken hunting since 1907, after a study showed only about 12,500 birds were believed to be left in the state. As early as 1990, the numbers had declined to 2,000. Today, however, less than 500 birds are documented. Most of them are found in Southwest Missouri. It may not be too long before we finally have to say farewell to this extraordinary bird for good.

I have pursued this book project on the prairie chicken since 2002. I had heard many people speak of the unique beauty of their booming dance and call. But it wasn’t until 2002 when I first observed and photographed them from my blind that I finally realized how inspiring their rituals were.

I was fascinated by their booming dance and call and discovered that there wasn’t much information about this dwindling species, actually, none in recent years. The last great photo book was published by Charles W. Schwartz of the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1944. Further, I learned that they were under serious threat for extinction. The place I observed them used to have hundreds of prairie chickens even in the early 1950s, but now only three males are left to be seen.

My goal is to have a book that shows the spirit of this dawn dancer and informs and inspires the public about why we need to save this species.

Mr. Joel M. Vance, a former Missouri Department of Conservation staff writer and a national award winning writer, shares this passion and will be a writer for this book. The book will be focusing on the natural history of prairie and the future of these birds.