Tympanuchus phasianellus
Silhouette: Samantha Straus · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus), also known as the sharptail or fire grouse, is a medium-sized prairie grouse. One of three species in the genus Tympanuchus, the sharp-tailed grouse is found throughout Alaska, much of Northern and Western Canada, and parts of the Western and Midwestern United States. The sharp-tailed grouse is the provincial bird of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
In 1750 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the sharp-tailed grouse in the third volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Long-tailed Grous from Hudson's-Bay". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a preserved specimen that had been brought to London from Hudson Bay by James Isham. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the sharp-tailed grouse with other grouse in the genus Tetrao. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Tetrao phasianellus and cited Edwards' work. The sharp-tailed grouse is now placed in the genus Tympanuchus that was introduced in 1841 by the German zoologist Constantin... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sharp-tailed Grouse sighting in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 68th most-seen of the 93 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Sharp-tailed Grouse in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to September, the lowest months. October to January have too few records to rate.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sharp-tailed Grouse sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Sharp-tailed Grouse sightings, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Badlands National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Phasianidae
The closest relatives of the Sharp-tailed Grouse that you can see in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (family Phasianidae, Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies) are American Spruce Grouse (about 30%) and Ruffed Grouse (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sharp-tailed Grouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (20 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
