Introductions of Sharp-Tailed Grouse into Maine

Abstract

Introductions of sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) into Maine were approved by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game in 1954. Habitat inventories in 1955 suggested >1800 km2 were available for sharptails in Washington County. Seventy sharp-tailed grouse from North Dakota and Ne? braska were hard released near feeders in Washington County from 1957 to 1961. In the mid-1950's there was an interest in finding a game bird suitable for open land habitats in Maine. Prior to the 20th century, the heath hen {Tympanuchus cupido cupido) may have been present in southern Maine and introductions of greater prairie-chickens (T. c. pinnatus) had failed (Applegate 1993). Introductions of ring-necked pheasant {Phasianus colchicus) and gray partridge (Perdix perdix) had not been successful, probably because of lack of suitable habitat and adverse climate (Dorr 1952). Because most open land habitats in Maine in the 1950's were either dairy farms, open peat bog, or commercial blueberry {Vaccinium spp.) barrens, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game decided to investigate introductions of sharp-tailed grouse {Tympanuchus phasianellus, Fig.l). A brief survey was conducted by Dr. G. A. Figure 1. Male sharp-tailed grouse dancing on lek. Photo by Randy D. Rogers * Wildlife Division, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 650 State Street, Bangor, ME 04401-5654. Present address: Research and Survey Section, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, PO Box 1525, Emporia, KS 66801-1525. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.136 on Tue, 05 Jul 2016 05:15:56 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 106 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 4, No. 2 Ammann of the Michigan Department of Conservation (now Michigan Department of Natural Resources) in 1954. Ammann (unpub. Rep., Maine Dep. Inland Fisheries and Game) suggested that the focus on sharptail introductions should be in the blueberry barrens, particularly those in Washington County in eastern Maine. Based on Ammann's report, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game, now Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), pursued intro? ductions of sharp-tailed grouse. Introductions of sharp-tailed grouse into Maine were not reported in the professional literature. Many of the original documents relating to this work have been or are in danger of being lost. This paper was prepared to document the historic introduction of sharp-tailed grouse into Maine and identify probable causes of failure as suggested by Toepferetal. (1990).