prairie chicken
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.prairie chicken
nounDefinition of PRAIRIE CHICKEN
: a grouse (Tympanuchus cupido) chiefly of the tallgrass prairies of the central United States with the male having yellowish-orange neck sacs which are inflated during courtship displays; also : a closely related smaller grouse (T. pallidicinctus) having reddish neck sacs
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First Known Use of PRAIRIE CHICKEN
1691
Rhymes with PRAIRIE CHICKEN
prairie chicken
noun (Concise Encyclopedia)Either of two species of North American grouse (genus Tympanuchus) noted for lek displays (group courtship displays). The greater prairie chicken is about 18 in. (45 cm) long and may weigh almost 2 lbs (1 kg). Its brown plumage is strongly barred below, and it has a short, rounded, dark tail. It occurs locally from Saskatchewan to coastal Texas and Louisiana; northernmost birds are somewhat migratory. The eastern subspecies, the heath hen, is extinct. The lesser prairie chicken, smaller and paler, inhabits the arid western central Great Plains. The sharp-tailed grouse (Pedioecetes) is locally called prairie chicken.
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