[Length 22 in. Wingspan 26 in.]

This Plain Chachalaca was photographed at Santa Ana NWR, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 64 film. (Date: March 1980)

[Length 22 in. Wingspan 26 in.]

This Plain Chachalaca was photographed at Santa Ana NWR, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor ED 300 f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: January 1988)

[Length 22 in. Wingspan 26 in.]

This Plain Chachalaca, displaying its red gular pouches to intimidate other nearby Chachalacas, was photographed at Santa Ana NWR, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor ED 300 f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 64 film. (Date: March 1980)

[Length 22 in. Wingspan 26 in.]

This Plain Chachalaca was photographed at the visitor's center, Laguna Atascosa NWR, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: August 26, 2008)

[Length 22 in. Wingspan 26 in.]

This Plain Chachalaca was photographed at the visitor center, Laguna Atascosa NWR, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=330mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: May 8, 2009)

[Length 22 in. Wingspan 26 in.]

This Chachalaca was photographed at the Visitor Center, Lsguna Atascosa NWR, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=292mm) on a Nikon D300 camera. (Date: February 27, 2013)

[Length 15 in. Wingspan 25 in.]

Greater Prairie-Chickens once bred throughout the vast prairies of North America. Habitat loss has drastically reduced their populations, and one must seek them out at the few remaining grassland areas. An isolated population exists in central-eastern Texas known as "Attwater's" Greater Prairie-Chicken. By 2003 there were less than 50 of these birds in the wild. Captive breeding and re-introduction programs have been implemented to save the population, but progress has been very slow. Today, the only extant population is at the inland Attwater's Prairie-Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, where captive bred birds have been re-introduced into the wild. However, this "Attwater's" Greater Prairie Chicken was photographed just before dawn along FM 2040 slightly north of Aransas NWR, Texas, USA. It may well have been one of the last "wild" birds left in its historic coastal breeding range. Photo taken through a car windshield (and illuminated mostly by the car's headlights!) with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Ektachrome 200 film. (Date: December 1979)

[Length 17 in. Wingspan 28 in.]

Greater Prairie-Chickens once bred throughout the vast prairies of North America. Habitat loss has drastically reduced their populations, and one must seek them out at the few remaining grassland areas. It is worth the effort to do so during the early spring, for the courting ritual of the males is spectacular, to say the least. Each male defends a territory into which he hopes to lure a female by fluffing his feathers, cocking his tale, stomping his feet, and singing a loud thrumming song that sounds like air blown across the top of a soda bottle. This male "Northern" Greater Prairie-Chicken was photographed at the Nature Conservancy's Bluestem Prairie unit in western Minnesota, USA. Photo taken with a 180 mm f2.8 EDAF Nikkor lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: May 1992)