Gunnison Sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus): A Critically Imperiled Species

The Gunnison sage-grouse (GUSG) is a critically imperiled sage grouse species most folks aren’t familiar with. Historically, it was lumped in with greater sage-grouse until the 1990s, when biologists began questioning whether or not it should be its own species. It was designated as a new species in the year 2000 by Dr. Jessica Young and her colleagues. Differences in filoplume length, strut rates and vocalizations during lekking season, and genetics were enough to differentiate it from other sage grouse, making it the first new avian species to be described in the United States since the 1800s.