I visited the natural spectacle of a Greater Sagegrouse lek for the first time in mid April 2022 at an undisclosed location in the Colorado mountains. Dozens of birds from the vicinity gather nightly at sunset on a particular patch of ancestral sagebrush. Males try to impress females by peacocking their pointed tail feathers and vocalizing with their yellow, inflated throat sack. Their vocalization sounds like somebody striking a rubber ball filled with water with an aluminum bat. To human ears it’s low-pitched and difficult to hear at distance, but supposedly broadcasts quite far to the Grouse. Scuffles often break out between rival males, with usually only 1 or 2 males securing the right to mate with the entire flock of females. This ritual repeats the next morning beginning well before sunrise. At about 8:30 am the entire flock disperses into the surrounding sagebrush to graze and avoid predators. The lek gathers like this for about 5 weeks.
Watching the Greater Sagegrouse lek was an overall magical wildlife experience in an ideal setting. Nothing could beat having snow-capped Colorado peaks as a backdrop to the lek. Large herds of pronghorn running all around and Moose in the distance gave a distinct ambience of an American Serengeti.
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