Unlike many other birds, Sage grouse are not adapted to digest seeds, so do not eat or benefit from wheat, corn, or other agricultural grains. They will however eat alfalfa, dandelion, and other introduced forbs. The Greater Sage Grouse is North America's largest grouse, with males weighing up to 8 pounds. A striking brown, black and white bird, with sharply pointed tail feathers. Males have large mustard-colored throat sacs that are inflated with air during mating displays, surrounded by a collar of bright white feathers.
Females are a mottled brown color, perfectly camouflaged for sage grasslands.
The Gunnison Sage Grouse is about 25 percent smaller, with slightly different plumage and distinctly different courtship displays and calls. The Greater Sage Grouse has also experienced significant range and population reductions in many areas. After mating, females nest and raise up to a dozen precocious chicks without further help from the male. Sage grouse reproduce slowly for an upland bird, often not breeding until they are two years old, and seldom renesting the same year if they lose eggs or chicks to predators or bad weather. Some populations of Sage grouse are migratory, flying and walking 100 miles or more between breeding and wintering grounds.