prairie chicken
nounDefinition of prairie chicken
: a grouse (Tympanuchus cupido) chiefly of the tallgrass prairies of the central U.S. with the male having yellowish-orange neck sacs which are inflated during courtship displays
also
: a closely related smaller grouse (T. pallidicinctus) having reddish neck sacs
Illustration of prairie chicken
Examples of prairie chicken in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Leases are proposed in a part of southeastern Colorado where lesser prairie chickens live. — Judith Kohler, The Denver Post, "State to ask Colorado BLM to defer action on some oil, gas leases proposed in wildlife habitat," 10 June 2019 State wildlife biologists in April caught lesser prairie chickens in Kansas and released them in southeast Colorado as part of a multi-year program to rebuild the bird’s population. — Judith Kohler, The Denver Post, "State to ask Colorado BLM to defer action on some oil, gas leases proposed in wildlife habitat," 10 June 2019 All this human encroachment into grasslands imperils these rich habitats that animals, from cheetahs to caribou to prairie chickens, call home. — Natasha Daly, National Geographic, "Earth’s grasslands are vanishing. See the wildlife that calls them home.," 11 Apr. 2019 Great prairie chicken populations grew for the first time in decades (though more recent studies question the role of genetic rescue in this success), along with the Swedish adder, a venomous snake that had suffered from inbreeding. — Laura Poppick, Smithsonian, "Threatened Species? Science to the (Genetic) Rescue!," 27 Apr. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prairie chicken.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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