In spring courtship, males inflate their chest sacs and fan their tails. The species is restricted to western Colorado and eastern Utah.
During breeding courtship, males inflate their chest sacs and fan their tail feathers.
Male Gunnison Sage-Grouse gather in spring and court females with their tails raised and spread. Seen head-on, the fan forms a nearly circular outline around the body. Muscles lift and spread the tail.
A study published online in 2025 examined one male found in Colorado’s Gunnison Basin the previous year. Comparisons included Red-breasted Merganser, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk and Common Quail. In the grouse, the tail-lifting muscle weighed nearly twice as much as the tail-lowering muscle.
The tail-lifting muscle had a broad attachment on the pelvis, and a muscle involved in spreading the fan also had an extensive attachment surface. The authors linked these features to maintaining a raised, spread tail during prolonged courtship displays.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2019 review identified loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitat through residential and agricultural development and roads. Small, separated populations were also a concern. Regional conservation can retain extensive sagebrush used for breeding and feeding and maintain habitat connections.