Greater Sage-Grouse Lek — Sublette County Wyoming USA
The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) lek near Pinedale in Sublette County Wyoming — up to 80 males displaying simultaneously on a single lek ground from late February through May, the most spectacular of North America's prairie grouse displays — creates North America's finest ground-nesting bird spectacle at dawn on the sagebrush plain. The male's display — yellow air sacs inflated and deflated producing the 'plop-plop-plop' sound audible 500 metres, the spiky tail raised and spread, and the white breast feathers fanned while the male struts in slow circles — is observable from the BLM-designated viewing pullouts at 50-metre range. The pre-dawn gathering (males assembling in darkness, the first sounds audible 30 minutes before the display is visible), the sky's colour progression from grey to pink to gold above the male's display, and the females' selective walk through the arena create one of the American West's most atmospheric and most specifically American wildlife dawns.
About this spectacle
Before first light, males gather silently on the sagebrush flats outside Pinedale, Wyoming. As the eastern sky shifts from black to deep grey, the arena comes alive: up to 80 male sage-grouse strut in slow, deliberate circles, their spiky tails fanned wide and white breast feathers puffed outward. The signature sound — a hollow, resonant 'plop-plop-plop' produced by rapidly inflating and deflating yellow air sacs — carries 500 metres across the still predawn air. Females move through the chaos with unhurried precision, evaluating and choosing dominant males at the lek's centre. As dawn brightens from pink to gold, the visual spectacle intensifies: iridescent plumage, competing males posturing at close range, and the vast open sagebrush plain stretching to snow-dusted ridgelines. BLM-designated pullouts place observers within 50 metres of the action, making photography and unobstructed viewing possible without disturbing the birds. The season runs late February through May, peaking in late March and April.
When to go
Feb — May, peak Mar — Apr
Getting there
Nearest airport: JAC. Nearest city: Pinedale.
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