Tympanuchus phasianellus ssp. hueyi Dickerman & Hubbard

New Mexican Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus ssp. hueyi)

The New Mexico Sharp-tailed Grouse is known from nine specimens; it was described as being distinct from other populations in 1994, at a time when it was already extinct.

This subspecies inhabited the prairies in parts of New Mexico and maybe also in adjacent parts of Colorado, USA; it disappeared due to the effects of human settlement including clearing of land for farming and overgrazing by livestock in the late 19th- and early 20th century. 

The last birds were recorded in 1952 on the Sewell Ranch in Colfax County, New Mexico.

*********************  

References:  

[1] Robert W. Dickerman; John P. Hubbard: An extinct subspecies of Sharp-tailed Grouse from New Mexico. Western Birds 25: 128-136. 1994

*********************

Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus L.); nominate form

Photo: Alan Schmierer

(not in copyright)

*********************

edited: 29.04.2021