Prairie chicken 'mating booms' are a featured attraction at refuge

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

A display at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, just outside of Eagle Lake, shows the colorful sack on the male birds which creates the unique "booming" sounds. The refuge is striving to boost the declining numbers of Attwater prairie chickens. -- Staff photo by Taylor

March 6, 2003 -- From February to early May, early morning visitors to the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, just outside of Eagle Lake, may be witness to a most unusual sight. It's mating season, and the male Attwater prairie chickens put on quite a show. A 10,000-acre site in Austin and Colorado counties, the refuge is the home of around 50 of the prairie chicken species.

Named the "booming" grounds, or leks, the males gather, holding their tales erect and their wings toward the ground. Sucking air into the colorful sacks on either side of their neck, they began their fast dancing step while releasing the air from the sacks. It's been likened to "blowing across the top of a coke bottle," and makes a "booming" sound, say the caregivers at the refuge.

Here, they stomp and boom until they attract a female chicken willing to mate. Once the chicken has mated, she disappears to build her nest and wait for the eggs to come and then the chicks to hatch.

Meanwhile, the male continues his mating dance, calling to other females who will go through the same process.

After watching the performance, it makes one wonder if the Native Americans didn't copy some of their head-dresses and dance steps from the prairie chickens that were so abundant, years ago.

They say that on a quiet, still, early spring morning, the booming noise echoes across the prairie, much like it must have sounded at the turn of the century when there were over 1 million of the chickens on the coastal plains of Texas and Louisiana.

Now, the Attwater prairie chickens are in danger of extinction, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with help from producers and the State of Texas, are trying to keep that from happening.

Back in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt started the first national wildlife refuge on Pelican Island in Florida, and there are now about 538 developed sites available for the protection of wildlife.

Terry Rossignol, refuge manager at the Attwater site, said the number of Attwater prairie chickens has been depleted for a number of reasons. Mainly, it is the loss of habitat, due to the growth of urban areas into what was coastal prairie land and the changing land-use by ranchers and farmers. Today, there is less than 1 percent of the original prairie left.

With the decline of the birds, a "captive breeding program" was developed at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center near Glen Rose, and now, Texas A&M University (TAMU), the Houston Zoo and the San Antonio Zoo take part in raising the birds which will be released to prairie land.

According to Rossignol, the fact that the birds nest on the ground makes them very vulnerable to all types of predators on the prairie, such as opossums, skunks, raccoons, coyotes, snakes, and domestic dogs and cats.

"In a normal wild population of Attwaters, historically, research has shown that approximately one-third of the nests survive - about 35 percent nest success, I think - and then of the nests that hatch, only about 25 percent of those chicks are going to make it to adulthood," explained Dr. Mike Morrow, senior wildlife biologist at the refuge.

A normal nest contains about 12 eggs, and even the chicks that make it to adulthood face a 50 percent mortality rate, he said. Another problem faced by the chickens is a virus that is being studied by a group at TAMU.

Ag producers and landowners are able to participate in a special program, the Coastal Prairie Coordination Initiative (CPCI), which works with private landowners who want to recover prairie lands and wildlife habitat on their property. Since 98 percent of land is privately owned in Texas, it is very important that producers are involved, according to Rossignol.

The joint venture will allow the Attwater prairie chickens and other wildlife to flourish, so generations will be able to witness their beauty and the way things "used to be." In order to keep the prairie land

in better condition, there is an annual prescribed burn to help control several "unfriendly" plant species, including the Macartney rose, Chinese tallow and other invasive woody plants.

Buffalo and cattle are also allowed to graze on the prairie and have helped to form paths for the chicks, according to the different grazing patterns, according to literature available at the refuge.

On April 12-13, the Attwater refuge will present the "2003 Attwater's Prairie Chicken Festival," and the public is invited to view the grounds and, hopefully, catch a glimpse of the mating dance.

The best part about working with the Attwater prairie chickens is "knowing we're making a difference," said Rossignol. The down side is trying to keep it going with the birds on the brink of extinction. "It's an emotional roller coaster," he added.

(For information concerning the festival or to make reservations for the tours, call 979-234-3021, ext. 12.)