Greater sage-grouse

Scientific name: Centrocercus urophasianus

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Males are large, dark gamebirds with black breasts, white neck patches, and yellowish-green air sacs on the chest; females are smaller and mottled gray-brown. Both sexes have long, pointed tail feathers and rounded wings adapted for explosive flushing.

Size and weight

Males: 2.3–3.5 kg, 65–75 cm; females: 1.4–2.1 kg, 53–58 cm.

Habitat

Greater sage-grouse inhabit sagebrush-dominated rangelands from sea level to 2,800 m elevation. They require expansive open terrain with continuous sagebrush cover interspersed with grassland patches and minimal tree encroachment.

Distribution

Range spans the interior western United States and southern Canada, concentrated in the Great Basin, Columbia Plateau, and northern Great Plains. They favour expansive sagebrush ecosystems with minimal fragmentation.

Diet

Sage-grouse consume sagebrush leaves year-round (primary diet staple), supplemented with forbs, grass seeds, and insects—particularly grasshoppers and crickets—during spring and summer months.

Behaviour

Crepuscular foragers most active at dawn and dusk, moving between roosting and feeding areas. They are gregarious in autumn and winter, forming loose flocks that disperse into smaller groups during breeding season; they walk and run rather than fly unless flushed.

Hunting tips

Look for dark droppings clustered in sagebrush and worn feeding trails through vegetation. Approach upwind and use terrain swells and sagebrush clumps for concealment; birds often run rather than flush, so anticipate lateral movement. Early morning and late afternoon provide best visibility for spotting birds in open habitat; move slowly and pause frequently to locate birds before they flush.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 2 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.