Prairie chicken

Prairie chicken, name for two species of grouse (genus Tympanuchus) that were once common in the eastern half of North America. Plowing of the prairies and cutting down of the woodlands have destroyed their homes. The males have airsacs on their throats for making booming calls. The airsacs are orange in the greater prairie chicken and violet in the lesser prairie chicken. The heath hen, which was a race of the greater prairie chicken, has been extinct since 1932.