Lesser Prairie Chicken

The numbers of Lesser Prairie Chicken in eastern New Mexico are quickly dwindling. Here, at the southern end of the Great Plains, they live in a habitat called shinnery oak, a unique place that looks like a dense oak forest only shin-high and growing from red sand dunes. This ecosystem is being rapidly lost to long-term drought, the booming oil and gas development of the Permian basin in southeast New Mexico (the newest energy development hotspot), wind development, and big agriculture.

Lesser Prairie Chickens are a controversial species that have been on and off the ESA list. After years of voluntary actions by agencies and landowners, their numbers have not stabilized. In 2021, the US Fish and Wildlife Service determined to move forward with re-listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken on the endangered species list for the population in the southern part of their range, including eastern New Mexico and Texas.

This past April, I was able to photograph the prairie chickens in their ancient annual mating ritual of dancing and sparing on a lek and some of the threats they face from energy development in the area.

Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico males fighting
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico males dancing on lek
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico shinnery oak habitat
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico shinnery oak habitat
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico shinnery oak habitat
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico threats habitat loss
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico threats habitat loss
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico threats habitat loss
Lesser Prairie Chicken New Mexico threats habitat loss
Lesser Prairie Chicken males dancing on lek
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