(Pediocaetes phasianellus columbianus)
The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse is the "prairie chicken" of eastern
Washington. It is far different from the pinated grouse
(=Tympanuchus=) of the middle states, commonly called prairie chicken.
Its habitat is much the same, however, being the open plains and
untimbered foothills east of the Cascade mountains in Washington and
through eastern Oregon into northern Nevada, and the extreme
northeastern corner of California. The sharp-tail grouse has the same
habit of strutting in large groups like the prairie chicken at the
beginning of the nesting season. They do not drum, however, like the
eastern bird, but make a noise more like an attempt to crow. They also
take refuge in the timber for protection from the storms of winter.
During the hunting season they lie well to a dog and afford fine
shooting. The food of the sharp-tailed grouse consists of about ten
per cent insects, the balance being made up of seeds, grains and
berries, with a good percentage of "brouse" in the winter.
=Color=--Male--Side of head and throat, pale buff with mottlings of
brown on the cheeks; back and wings, gray, mottled with black;
breast, light buff. Under parts, white with lines of dark brown;
central tail feathers long and pointed; no long feathers on the neck.
Female--Resembles the male with the exception that the tail feathers
are not so long.
=Nest and Eggs=--The nest is a rude affair on the ground, lined with a
little dead grass and generally contains from ten to fifteen eggs of a
greenish buff speckled with fine dots of brown.
=Measurements=--Total length from 14 to 16 inches, with the wing about
eight; the central tail feathers are about five inches in length. The
average bird will weigh about two pounds.