| Tympanuchus | |
|---|---|
) | |
| Male lesser prairie chicken (T. pallidicinctus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Subfamily: | Tetraoninae |
| Genus: | Tympanuchus Gloger, 1841 |
| Species | |
| Tympanuchus cupido | |
| Synonyms | |
| Pedioecetes | |
Tympanuchus is a small genus of birds in the grouse family. They are commonly referred to as prairie chickens. The genus contains three species:
| Image | Name | Common name | Subspecies | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg')) | Tympanuchus phasianellus | Sharp-tailed grouse | north to Alaska, south to California and New Mexico, and east to Quebec, Canada | |
_(20163587720).jpg')) | Tympanuchus cupido | Greater prairie chicken |
| Central U.S., formerly to the Atlantic coast |
) | Tympanuchus pallidicinctus | Lesser prairie chicken | western Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle including the Llano Estacado, eastern New Mexico, and southeastern Colorado. |
All three are among the smaller grouse, from 40 to 43 cm (16 to 17 in) in length. They are found in North America in different types of prairie. In courtship display on leks, males make hooting sounds and dance with the head extended straight forward, the tail up, and colorful neck sacks inflated (shown in the photograph at upper right). Tympanuchus comes from Ancient Greek roots and means "holding a drum"; it refers to the membranous neck sacks and the drum-like call of the greater prairie chicken.
The two prairie chickens are particularly closely related and look extremely similar.
The extinct heath hen of the American East Coast, usually considered a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken, has been considered a separate species.
References
- Holloway, Joel Ellis (2003). Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names. Timber Press. p. 206. ISBN 0-88192-600-0.
- Peterson, Alan P. (Editor). 1999. Zoological Nomenclature Resource (Zoonomen). Accessed 2007-07-29.
- Sibley, David (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. Knopf. pp. 146–147. ISBN 0-679-45122-6.
- Storch, Ilse; Bendell, J. F. (2003). "Grouse". In Christopher Perrins (ed.). Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books. pp. 184–187. ISBN 1-55297-777-3.