About Tympanuchus pallidicinctus (Ridgway, 1873)
This species, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, was first formally described by Ridgway in 1873. Adult Tympanuchus pallidicinctus are medium to large sized birds, with white and brown striped plumage similar to their close relative the Greater prairie-chicken, Tympanuchus cupido. They are smaller and paler in color than Greater prairie-chickens. Adult individuals measure between 15.0 and 16.1 inches, or 38 to 41 centimeters, in total length, and weigh between 22.1 and 28.7 ounces, or 630 to 810 grams. Mature males have yellow comb-like feathers positioned above each eye, along with long head feathers that can be erected to expose their pinkish-red gular sacs. One gular sac is present on each side of the male's neck, and the sacs are inflated during mating displays. Roughly half of the species' current total population resides in western Kansas. The remaining half of the population is distributed across sandhills and prairies in western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle (including the Llano Estacado), eastern New Mexico, and southeastern Colorado. These birds favor habitats that contain sand sagebrush and shinnery oak, alongside a variety of area-dependent grasses and shrubs.
