Greater Prairie-Chicken (Heath Hen)

The Heath Hen was a small subspecies of the Greater Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus cupido). This chicken-shaped bird was characterized by a mottled brown body, short tail, and short, rounded wings. Males possessed yellow eyebrows, yellow inflatable throat-sacks, and stiff neck feathers called “pinnae.” Females were smaller and duller, possessing much shorter pinnae and lacking a throat sac. Before it became extinct, the Heath Hen was found along the Atlantic coast of the eastern United States from Massachusetts south to Virginia. This subspecies was separated geographically from other Greater Prairie-Chicken populations, which today are restricted to a few areas on the Great Plains but historically occurred widely in the central United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. A combination of overhunting and habitat loss caused this subspecies’ numbers to plummet. At the time of its extinction in 1932, the Heath Hen had died out on mainland North America, and was found only on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Heath Hens were found in open woodland habitats across its range. This subspecies was associated with the “pine barren” habitat type, which is characterized by sandy soils, short pine trees, and sparse groundcover of grasses and low shrubs. These woodland habitats are somewhat more vegetated than the dry grassland habitats inhabited by modern Greater Prairie-Chicken populations, but both provide sufficient quantities of insects, seeds, and other plant foods to feed these birds and other similar land fowl. In the early-1800s, when this subspecies was still found on the mainland, these birds would have been most visible while foraging for food in clearing. During the breeding season, males would defend territories, called “leks,” against male intruders while inflating their throat sacks and erecting their pinnae as a courtship display, much as Greater Prairie-Chickens do today. Heath Hens were primarily active during the day.