Sharing the Range - The Greater Sage Grouse!

By: Alexis Kirk - 13 years old

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and the Virginia Range has its own special “turkey-like” bird. The sage grouse is a chubby bird with mottled grey and brown feathers that make them practically invisible among the plant life in its habitat. They have long, spiky tail feathers and black chests.

Male grouses find an open area where females are already gathered and have “dancing competitions,” using their plumage to impress the female grouses. They have large, bulb-like yellow pockets in their chests that are used to court a potential mate. They can fill these pockets with up to 1 gallon of air and then push them out to create a stunning display. They then create low booming popping sounds by thumping their wings against the air sacks. The Virginia Range horses have front-row seats to the best dance competition in Nevada.

They build nests on the ground instead of in the trees like most birds. They forage for plants and sometimes insects that spark their interest. They have specialized stomachs that help with the digestion of the tough sage leaves. Sage grouse eggs are incubated and protected in a depression in the ground by their mother before their hatching after 3 weeks. They are able to fly long distances 5 days after hatching and can cover (on average) ¼ mile on the ground in just one day!

Next time you’re out and about in Nevada, keep your eyes and ears peeled for these dancing birds. I saw my first sage grouse scurrying through the shrubs right in my neighborhood!

BRRRR! Wild Horse Cold Weather Adaptions

by Deborah Walker

Did you know?
We have all seen domestic horses blanketed or in stalls in really cold weather. Wild horses are different since Mother Nature is their caretaker and they are uniquely built to handle what winter throws at them. We visited the subject of how and why horses grow their fuzzy coats but we did not address the hooves. What happens to the hoof and the legs as the horses stand in deep snow or in icy water? Even though the horse has a winter coat, do cold legs chill the body?

Since the legs are mostly bone and tendon, they do not respond to colder temperatures like the muscles do. Every step a wild horse takes pumps blood through pressure on the “frog” in the hoof called a shunting mechanism. The direct shunt opens up allowing blood to travel through larger veins rather than the usual smaller ones to keep the body warm, since the legs and feet are basically unaffected. Cool horse facts!

Photo by Tracy Wilson