After late winter or spring lekking activity, sage grouse may move to higher elevations or down to irrigated valleys for nesting and feeding. Brooding ranges may be a considerable distance from winter ranges or spring nesting grounds. Males may also move long distances over the seasons. Because sage grouse habitat and cover requirements are inseparably tied to sagebrush, they will be discussed together. In winter and throughout the year, sage grouse select areas of little or no slope.
Some females probably travel between leks.
Nesting - Sage grouse prefer relatively tall sagebrush with an open canopy for nesting. No nests occurred where threetip sagebrush cover exceeded 35 percent. Brooding - Sage grouse brood in open sagebrush with a forb component. The importance of sagebrush in the diet of adult sage grouse is impossible to overestimate. A Montana study, based on 299 crop samples, showed that 62 percent of total food volume of the year was sagebrush.