Nature

The Sagebrush Sea

It’s been called The Big Empty – an immense sea of sagebrush that once stretched 500,000 square miles across North America. Yet it’s far from empty, as those who look closely will discover. In this ecosystem anchored by the sage, eagles and antelope, badgers and lizards, rabbits, wrens, owls, prairie dogs, songbirds, hawks and migrating birds of all description make their homes.

Sage-Grouse Display Lekking Behavior

In the springtime, male greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) gather in groups, called leks, to compete for females. Males guard a territory a few meters in size (on average) and try to attract a mate by ruffling feathers and making a distinctive noise produced by air sacks in the chest.

Previews + Extras

  • Fences Create Problems for Pronghorn: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fences Create Problems for Pronghorn

    S33 E16 - 1m 50s

    The pronghorn is the fastest land animal in North America. However, an increasingly fragmented landscape, divided by ranchers' fences, is creating problems for the fleet-footed creature.

  • The Sagebrush Sea - Preview : asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Sagebrush Sea - Preview

    S33 E16 - 41s

    One of the most overlooked ecosystems on the continent consists of a massive sea of sagebrush that stretches across 11 states in the American West. This spartan yet spectacular landscape supports more than 170 species of hardscrabble birds and mammals. And among those that have adapted to survive here are birds found no place else – Greater Sage-Grouse.

Similar Shows

Make48: show-poster2x3

Make48

Science and Nature

WETA Passport

Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.