Attwater’s prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) is a critically endangered subspecies of prairie grouse that was once very common on the coastal prairies of eastern Texas, including what is today the Houston metropolitan area. This bird is perhaps best known for its “booming” display, a characteristic male behavior that attracts hens during the breeding season, which takes place from late winter through early spring. Unfortunately, the combination of vanishing habitat, predation, and introduced species has taken its toll on the remaining wild population, which now numbers less than 100 birds at two protected sites – the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge and the Texas City Prairie Preserve.
The Houston Zoo is an institutional member of the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken National Recovery Plan, overseen by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Each summer a number of birds hatched and raised by several Texas zoos, universities, and wildlife centers are reintroduced to nature in hopes of augmenting wild flocks and restoring the natural population to viable levels. Unfortunately, this has been a very difficult task and it is believed that success will only be achieved by increasing the number of captive-bred birds and expanding the number of release sites in the reintroduction program.
In 2007, the Houston Zoo took a major step toward increasing the breeding potential of its captive flock. The entire captive colony, which had previously resided in a small, noisy section of the zoo, was moved to new, much more spacious and naturalistic quarters at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The result was record production of eggs and chicks in the first full breeding season, and the prospects are that these numbers will continue to increase as new pens are added in the months ahead. By the end of this year, we expect to jump from 12 to 24 breeding enclosures, which should double chick production as well.
Attwater’s prairie chicken is barely hanging on in a few small protected remnants of its native habitat. In addition to captive breeding, the future of this seriously threatened bird will rest not only with the United States government, state agencies, and zoological institutions that have taken up its cause, but also with the people of Texas. Land owned and protected by private citizens will very likely become the final stronghold for this native species.
