Each spring, remote areas in Oregon's sagebrush steppe attract scores of greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) for elaborate mating rituals. These areas - called leks - provide wildlife biologists a golden opportunity for census-taking, because they host the largest annual gathering of male and female sage grouse.

Since the males are in full display - strutting their uniquely shaped pin-like tail feathers, inflating and deflating distinctive golden throat sacs, and cooing and clucking a range of sounds - they stand out in the landscape and are more easily identified and counted.

This counting is critical. The BLM and its partners are taking steps to protect the greater sage grouse and more than 350 other species that rely upon the sagebrush steppe landscape for their survival, and these annual censuses - called lek counts - provide vital information about sage grouse population health.

At one of many lek counts in the spring of 2016, wildlife biologists from the Bureau of Land Management and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife teamed up near Steens Mountain in southeastern Oregon to count and record the population of greater sage grouse in two nearby leks.

The biologists traveled several hours to the lek site, arriving to begin their count at first light - a time when the birds are most active. Using spotting scopes, the biologists meticulously counted sage grouse and recorded them for later study.

The biologists also noted the presence of forbs favored by the birds, including some of the 17 species of buckwheat found near Steens Mountain. In addition to sagebrush, greater sage grouse rely upon many plants within the sagebrush steppe environment for food. Forbs - herbaceous plants (excluding grasses) with flowers and nutritious leaves - provide important seasonal alternatives to the sage grouse's year-round sagebrush fare.

Oregon is home to 6.3 percent of the nation's sage grouse population, but the effect of rangeland fire and invasive plants on sagebrush habitat continue to threaten the bird's survival. In 2015, following concerted efforts by the BLM and partners to address these and other threats, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that protection for the greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act was no longer warranted, and they withdrew it from the candidate species list.

This decision was not an end to conservation measures, though. Within the next five years, the USFWS will conduct a status review to evaluate the greater sage grouse conservation efforts. That's where the importance of lek counts factors in. It is critical that the BLM has the capacity to document how greater sage grouse plans are being implemented and can demonstrate that they're effective at conserving the bird's habitat by reducing threats, minimizing new surface disturbance, and improving habitat integrity.

Lek counts are like a blood pressure monitor for the greater sage grouse and the sagebrush ecosystem: they provide important data that indicate health, and also inform prescriptive paths toward recovery.

- Story and photos by Greg Shine, BLM, gshine@blm.gov