Greater Sage-Grouse are one of the most iconic birds of the American West. Each spring across the sagebrush steppe, they gather at mating grounds, called leks. There, males perform incredible courtship displays for onlooking females.

Being on a sage-grouse lek is a surreal experience. As the morning shifts from darkness, to dawn, to sunrise, you’re immersed in unimaginable sights and sounds. The calm, the excitement, the wonder; every aspect of it is unforgettable.

Sadly, very few people get to visit a lek. Most leks are in remote areas. They require you to get up before dawn and sit in the cold for hours. Opportunities to do so are also decreasing as sage-grouse populations and quality sagebrush habitat disappear across the West, revealed by recent scientific reports.

But you deserve to know the magic of sage-grouse. To share it with you, we created this video. Experience what it’s like to spend a spring morning on a Greater Sage-Grouse lek from inside the photography blind of Audubon Rockies communications manager Evan Barrientos in southern Wyoming.

About Greater Sage-Grouse

Greater Sage-Grouse are found only in the sagebrush ecosystem of North America. The ecosystem spans 14 states and two Canadian provinces, but due to habitat loss, sage-grouse are now only found in 11 states.

Sage-grouse are extremely loyal to the leks where they display and mate. Males return to the same leks year after year. Some leks are hundreds of years old. Each spring, a spectacle unfolds in the early morning hours on these leks.

The bizarre sights and sounds of a male sage-grouse’s display are achieved by a series of adaptations. Males gulp and hold a gallon of air in their bodies. By squeezing it out forcefully, they rapidly inflate two yellow sacs in their esophagus. This produces the popping sound of their display, which can be heard up to two miles away. Males also make a swishing sound by rubbing their wings across stiff feathers on their chests.

Nearly all the females at a lek choose the same male to mate with. One researcher observed a male mate 37 times in one morning with 37 different females. Twenty-three of those were in a 23-minute period! Biologists are still trying to understand how females choose their mates, but they’re most likely evaluating the males’ plumage, display, and sounds.

Females build their nests within three to four miles of the lek, on average. Under the protective canopy of sagebrush, they usually lay 6-9 eggs. After they hatch, the females care for the young until the fall. During these important early days, she leads them to wet meadows and grassy understories with flowers, where the chicks acquire protein from insects.

When they mature, the young males usually return to the same leks where they were conceived, and the cycle continues.

Viewing Sage-Grouse

We hope that you get to experience a sage-grouse lek in person someday. Because sage-grouse are in decline and very sensitive to human disturbance, please do so ethically. Unless you are very far away, only observe a lek from inside a blind or car. Arrive at the site and enter your blind at least an hour before sunrise. Do not leave it until all the sage-grouse have left.

State wildlife agencies are the authorities on sage-grouse viewing. Please consult yours for locations where leks are publicly viewable and follow their rules for doing so.