A male lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) flutter jumps in an attempt to attract the attention of a female on a lek located on the Hoeme Family Farm and Ranch in Gove County, Kansas. Prairie chickens return to the same lek year after year to mate. Males attempt to entice female lesser prairie-chickens with a showy mating display on a lek <br />
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During courtship on a lek, males inflate their red esophageal air sacs and hold erect pinnae on each side of the neck. They rapidly stomp their feet making a drumming-like sound. The booming call of lesser-prairie chickens, amplified by the air sacs, can be heard as far as a mile away.<br />
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Lesser prairie-chickens are threatened by climate changes (drought or too much rain) and habitat loss. In particular, habitat loss caused by wind energy development. Prairie-chickens need large expanses of open grassland without tall objects (like wind turbines or power lines and power poles) that provide a raptor to perch on. As of early 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has placed a status of proposed threatened or proposed endangered species. A ruling is expected in the summer of 2022.<br />
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Lesser prairie-chickens are found in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas with about half of the current population living in western Kansas.