Heath hen
Heath hen in LOST ZOO
Heath hens look very similar to the North American Great Prairie chicken, but are smaller.
Heath hens show sexual dimorphism. Different to the females the male birds have comb-like feathers over their eyes and dark, elongated head feathers that can be raised or laid along the neck. Besides they possess on both sides of the neck a circular, un-feathered patch.
During the attractive the males inflate the colourful air sacs located on the side of their neck, they are snapping the tail and raise the elongated feathers over the eyes and the head.
Heath hens use always the same booming sites to perform their mating display to attract a female. As a territorial bird the males always defend their lekking grounds.
The Heath hen is found at the Atlantic coast of New England, from southernmost New Hampshire to northern Virginia and on some offshore islands. At the beginning the heath hen was described as a subspecies of the Great Prairie chicken and indeed this subspecies was the first described Great Prairie chicken. Because of genetic research during the last few years, scientists today believe that the Heath hen does not belong to the Great Prairie chicken, but that it is in fact a separate species.
Body length: 43 cm
Body weight: 0.9 kg
Egg: Only 7 eggs are known in all the Natural History Museums of the world. Compared with the both closely related Prairie chicken species, it can be assumed that the egg clutch of Heath hens consists probably also of 7 and more eggs and that only the female breeds and looks for the chicks after hatching for several weeks and will feed them with insects.
Habitat: Heath hens live in the scrubby heathland barrens at the Northeastern coast of the USA.
Extinction: Became extinct in 1932 because of poultry disease and genetic effects, but mainly because of habitat destruction and overhunting.
