SHOWING RECORD: 5 of 50 Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse
Photograph by Daphne Kinzler; Frank Lane Picture Agency/Corbis
Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse
Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus
Subspecies of Sharp-Tailed Grouse
March 1, 1806, described at Fort Clatsop, Oregon.
Resembles, but slightly smaller than, female pheasant. Mottled with buff, slightly paler below. Tail short and pointed, with white outer tail feathers. Male has purple neck patch and yellow comb over eye; tail longer than that of female. Length: 15-20 in (38-51 cm).
During courtship, a low single or double cooing note.
Grasslands, scrub forest, and arid sagebrush.
Alaska east to Hudson Bay and south to Utah, northeastern New Mexico, and Michigan.
