Every spring starting in March, male sharp-tailed grouse gather on leks or dancing grounds to display for female onlookers. This ritual, triggered by photoperiod, has been going on in North Dakota for hundreds or even thousands of years. Learn more in this week's NDO News. | North Dakota Game and Fish Department

Dance like no one is watching, or like you're a sharp-tailed grouse. Every spring, sharp-tailed grouse form mating grounds, or leks, where they congregate to compete for territories and perform mating displays. This crowded scene leads to fighting among the males as they attempt to dance and win the affections of the females. Video footage filmed by USFWS at Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. Video description: a sharp-tailed grouse taps its little feet quickly back and fort

Sharp-tailed X sage-grouse hybrid!!!!!! One aspect of wildlife biology that never gets old is running into unexpected scenarios and species while working. Nature never does entirely what you expect, nor should it. I had the pleasure of a long and chaotic spring spent trapping sharp-tailed grouse in eastern Montana as part of the reintroduction effort for western Montana sharpies. When you’re working early hours and long days it is always refreshing (read: it helps me stay awake 😉) to run into s