Tweeters,

Spaces are still available for the March 13 early morning (very early!)
guided tour to observe Sage Grouse on their lek near Yakima. This tour will
be hosted jointly by the Yakima Training Center (biologists) and the Yakima
Valley Audubon Society (with me as leader). Good views through scopes of
Sage Grouse on the shrub-steppe north of Yakima are usually had.

In Washington, the threatened Sage Grouse survive in only two areas: the
Yakima Training Center and in parts of Douglas County, with a total of
~1,000 birds.

Membership in the Yakima Valley Audubon Society is a prerequisite.
Non-members can join at the $15 level.

For members who are interested, email me with your name, phone # and email
address. Non-members, please send same info + check for $15/person made out
to: Yakima Valley Audubon Society c/o:

Andy Stepniewski
291 Windy Pt. Dr.
Wapato WA 98951.

I can also be reached at 509-877-6639 and, of course steppie at wolfenet.com

Breakfast (no-host) will be at Settlers Restaurant on N. 1st in Yakima
just south of Hwy 12 and immediately west of I-82) following the trip
(roughly 7:30 am).

Following breakfast, an informal car caravan heads east from Yakima on Hwy
24, looking for raptors in the Black Rock Valley (Rough-legged Hawk, Golden
Eagle, Prairie Falcon are seen on > 50% of trips; Ferruginous Hawk,
Gyrfalcon < 25%). We also go to the Columbia River at Vernita (Prairie
Falcon, Chukar, Canyon Wren), then finally to the Wahluke Wildlife Area
along the Hanford Reach (American White Pelican, Long-eared Owl, Sage
Sparrow plus various "Westside" waterbird species). It's a wonderful
opportunity to see first-hand the White Bluffs area of the Hanford Reach.

Hope to see some Tweeters on this trip! More information will be provided
after sign-up.

About lekking behavior as a mating system: Mating systems of certain
open-country grouse (prairie-chickens, Sharp-tailed and Sage Grouse)
involve males displaying communally at a traditional site known as a lek.
It is thought the grouse of open habitats can safely utilize this system
because predators have little chance of closely approaching the lek without
being detected. Here, as they compete for females, they pop, gobble or
boom-depending on the species by inflating brightly colored air sacs on
their necks, while repeatedly carrying out a ritualized dance. Females
approach the lek, choose and mate with a male from the displaying group,
and then leave to nest and rear their young alone.

The male grouse hold territories on the lek, with the dominant male usually
claiming the most central position. The central male normally mates with
the most females; in general a male's success at attracting females is
highly correlated with his position on the lek, which in turn is largely
determined by his place in the male dominance hierarchy. Thus, relatively
few males sire most of the young. In one study, about a third of the males
performed 75% of the copulations. A young male will occupy outer positions
on the lek, if he survives to the next season, he will move to a more
desirable central spot, where they have the greatest chance of mating,
since females prefer central males.

Of interest is the fact that this promiscuous system of mating has
presumably evolved where the advantage of the male remaining with the
female to help in raising the young is negligible.