It originally inhabited mid-grass prairie with or without interspersed Shinnery Oak Quercus havardii or Sand Sagebrush Artemisia filifolia (Hagen et al. 2002, Wolfe et al. 2007). It is now most common in dwarf shrub-mixed grass vegetation, sometimes interspersed with short grass and, optimally, with some portion (<25%) of the landscape in row grains as supplemental winter forage. Successful nests tend to be in areas with greater shrub cover and visual obstructions (Davis 2009), and habitat occupancy increases with native land cover (Hagen et al. 2016). Leks are usually on elevated areas with short vegetation (Wolfe et al. 2007). Breeding occurs from mid-March to late May (Wolfe et al. 2007). Food comprises foliage, seeds, grain, insects in the warmer months and acorns in the south of the range (Wolfe et al. 2007). Birds flock in late autumn and early winter, when they feed in croplands (Wolfe et al. 2007).

Tympanuchus pallidicinctus occurs in west-central and south-west Kansas, south-east Colorado, the Oklahoma panhandle, Texas (Permian Basin) and eastern New Mexico, (U.S.A.), and historically perhaps in southern Nebraska (Wolfe et al. 2007).

Conservation Actions Underway
The species is legally protected in all range states. Numbers of leks and attending males are monitored via ground and aerial surveys (McDonald et al. 2014, Garton et al. 2016 [per C. Hagen in litt. 2016], J. Haufler in litt. 2012). Reintroduction programs have failed in Texas and Colorado (Wolfe et al. 2007). Some grazing regimes have been successfully manipulated, and croplands have reverted to roughly 2 million acres of grassland under the Conservation Reserve Program and other private land management schemes, which have benefited several populations (Hagen et al. 2002). Large areas of habitat have been purchased by some states and the Nature Conservancy and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances are being implemented in Texas and Oklahoma (J. Haufler in litt. 2012). Research has been conducted on the species's ecology and conservation, which will facilitate the production of recovery plans. Miles of unneeded fences have been removed in parts of Oklahoma and Texas and a method has been developed to mark remaining fences to reduce mortality (Rogers 1997). WAFWAs conservation efforts have resulted in 53,000 ha of conservation offsetting and LPCI has enrolled 450 landowners and 430,000 ha in conservation actions to benefit the species since 2010 (C. Hagen in litt. 2016).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Allow habitat regeneration, and manage grazing to provide adequate cover and forage for prairie chickens. Continue to manage occupied habitats on private lands, and hasten progress towards effective management on public lands. Actions may include removal of invasive woody species, improved grazing systems, reintroduction of fire to the landscape, and minimize human developments in these areas (C. Hagen in litt. 2016). Protect occupied habitats. Develop and promote effective incentives for land-owners to maintain populations and their habitat. Continue monitoring leks and develop statistically robust methods of estimating populations from lek data. Regulate the construction of tall structures in or near lesser prairie-chicken habitats. Ensure effective evaluation and mitigation of the impacts of wind turbine (and all other energy development [C. Hagen in litt. 2016]) and other tall structure installation on the species; and use habitat assessment tools to guide appropriate siting of any developments/ conservation projects (e.g. see Jarnevich et al. 2016).