Montana sage grouse estimates jump 73% in 2020

Montana biologists believe good weather and possibly the cyclical fluctuation of populations may be responsible for a 73% increase in the state’s 2020 estimate of greater sage grouse numbers compared to 2019.

In an Aug. 18 report to the Legislature, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks put the 2020 population estimate at 77,977 birds. The agency estimated there were 44,867 greater sage grouse in the state in 2019, the report states.

The increase of 33,110 birds marks a jump of 73% between the two years. Biologists and others surveyed 805 breeding-ground leks during the spring mating season, counted the number of strutting males, and plugged those numbers into a mathematical formula to arrive at the estimate.

Montana holds about 11.6% of the world’s greater sage grouse. Other western states with significant greater sage grouse populations reported much smaller increases this year, if any at all.

Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/montana-sage-grouse-estimates-jump-73-in-2020/