Attwater's Prairie-Chicken

Over a century ago, one million Attwater’s prairie-chickens graced the Texas and Louisiana gulf coastal prairie. Each spring, males gathered to perform an elaborate courtship ritual. They inflated their yellow air sacs and emitted a strange, booming sound across a sea of grasses.

Today, less than one percent of coastal prairies remain. With so little of its home left, the Attwater’s prairie-chicken has come dangerously close to following the passenger pigeon to extinction. The Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge offers one of the last hopes for survival of this endangered bird.

You may not see the birds, but they are here, valiantly struggling to keep their species alive, with a lot of help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others. Their presence deepens the experience of a visit among breathtaking spring wildflowers, marshes, ponds, and virgin tallgrass prairie.
Meet the Attwater's Prairie Chicken
A Story of Loss and Hope

Cont'd. Shelter: Habitat Availability is Key to Recovery
The Attwater’s prairie chicken is an endangered grouse that is unique to Texas gulf coastal areas.  It is brownish, and strongly black barred with a short, rounded, blackish tail.  It weighs about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds.  Over a century ago, the APC population was booming.  At that time, there were around one million APCs living in the Texas and Louisiana gulf coastal prairie.  APCs once had over six million acres of homeland. Today, less than one percent of their original habitat remains.  This loss of habitat is the main reason for the APC’s drastic decline. 

In late August and early September, a new safe harbor agreement between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is expected to help private landowners be a part of the conservation effort to save the APC.  Through the agreement, landowners are able to be involved in restoring and maintaining coastal prairie habitat with cost share and incentives, on their own land.

On Friday August 24, about 30 captive-bred juvenile APCs arrived from captive breeding facilities and were released into the wild onto private ranchland in Goliad County in South Texas.  The ranch lies within a pristine native prairie kept intact by the same family since the mid-1800s.  The land is a historic habitat for APCs which were last seen in the region in the mid-1990s.

Not including The Nature Conservancy property near Texas City, this is the first ever release of APCs on private land.  Since this is such a milestone event for the APC, The Texas Nature Conservancy is coordinating a small media event at the release site.  The birds will be held in acclimation pens at the release site for 10 days before being released into the wild.  Once these 30 birds are released, it is anticipated that there will be about 20 more birds released on the site this year, with subsequent releases planned for the next 2 years. 

Most of the Texas landscape is privately owned.  This makes the voluntary cooperation of ranchers and other rural landowners essential for wildlife conservation in the state.  Under the new agreement, Land owners who allow endangered or threatened species onto their property and are willing to undertake voluntary conservation measures such as brush control, grazing management, prescribed burning, and allowing periodic monitoring on their property, will be assured that no further land use restrictions or conditions will be required from them if the APC is ultimately listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.  The bird is currently a candidate for listing.