Natal Dispersal and Lek Fidelity of Sage Grouse

Abstract

Abstract Natal dispersal and lek fidelity (attendance within and between years) of Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were studied on Cold Spring Mountain, northwestern Colorado, from July 1981 through May 1984. Female Sage Grouse followed the typical avian pattern of dispersing farther than males. However, there was no difference between proportions of male and female yearling grouse attending the lek closest to their juvenile banding location. Fifteen percent of all individually marked juveniles (24/157 birds) were known to have attended leks as yearlings. There was no difference between yearling and adult lek attendance rates for either sex; however, females attended leks less often than males. Yearling females, but not yearling males, visited 2 or more leks more often than adults. These differences may be related to yearlings' inexperience with breeding or to a strategy to enhance reproductive success.