Booming Ground
An area used by greater prairie chickens for displaying to attract females for mating. These areas tend to be located in open areas having short cover. This makes males more visible to females and safer from predators. The same area tends to be used year after year.
Brood
A group of young birds attended by the hen (no parental care is provided by male prairie chickens).
Censusing
A method of estimating the numbers in a wildlife population. In prairie chickens, it is determined by locating the booming grounds in an area and counting all the males with binoculars.
Clutch
The group of eggs in a nest.
Dispersal
To move apart or separate as in "brood dispersal." Prairie chicken broods disperse in late summer or early fall.
Egg Fertility
Whether or not an egg has been fertilized and is capable of hatching.
Habitat
The place where an animal lives which must provide the proper food, cover, water and space.
Incubation
The process by which the hen keeps eggs warm with her own body heat and causes them to develop and hatch after the appropriate time interval, which is 24-25 days for prairie chicken eggs.
