The Attwater’s prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) is a grouse unique to the coastal areas of Texas and Louisiana. It is closely related to the Greater prairie chicken, which lives in the tallgrass prairies farther north. More than a century ago, an estimated one million Attwater’s prairie chickens inhabited their range. By 1937, approximately 8,700 birds remained, all in Texas. Attwater’s prairie chickens were listed as endangered in 1967, when only 1,000 birds remained. Today it is considered one of the most endangered birds in North America. |