Low-flying helicopters will be surveying far Southeast Colorado for lesser prairie chickens
Bill VogrinSoutheast Region Public Information Officer
719-466-3927 / [email protected]
March 29, 2022
Low-flying helicopters to survey lesser prairie chicken populations in SE Colorado
LAMAR, Colo. – Beginning in mid-April, helicopter crews will move across southeastern Colorado to conduct aerial surveys for lesser prairie-chicken.
The surveys are conducted annually by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) to document population trends and how the bird is responding to management strategies.
Low-flying helicopters allow crews to find and survey leks, or mating grounds, where male chickens fight, dance and conduct mating rituals to attract females.
It’ll be some early mornings for surveyors, as the flights are only conducted during the first couple hours after sunrise. Crews will be flying in Baca, Prowers, Kiowa and Cheyenne counties.
The data from those flights will be used to estimate prairie-chicken populations in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.
Results from this year’s surveys will be available on July 1.
The WAFWA Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-wide Conservation Plan can be found at this link.
WAFWA was founded in 1922 to promote conservation in western North America. It represents 23 western states and Canadian provinces.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 43 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.