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.

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References:  

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

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edited: 29.04.2021