Male Great Prairie Chicken displaying on lek for females

Greater prairie chickens are best known for their elaborate mating rituals. Every spring, males gather together on traditional breeding grounds known as "leks" or "booming grounds" where each male defends a small territory.

Greater prairie chicken courtship displays are their most famous trait. Males raise their neck feathers and inflate their throat sacs, then they crouch down and pop their tail feathers all at once — boom! The sound can be heard a mile away.

First, he raises his pinnae feathers (long feathers on the neck) and tail feathers, inflates his bright orange throat sac, and lowers his wings. . . .

Greater Prairie Chicken Facts | The Nature Conservancy

[eaglem]

A very colourful Bird

[angkymac]

Interesting birds for sure!
And an interesting twilight coloration of him. Good shot to capture them in their mating practice.
They've lost a lot of their mating territory in the east side of the Sierra Mountains due to some housing development but also due to encroachment of Western Juniper forests.
Efforts are now underway to reduce the trees and re-allow their mating grounds to develop.
Angky.

[MikeNArk]

Good distinctive markings and colors in the bird. Looked like a difficult capture in the brush and evening light. Good work.

[aslyfox]

@eaglem, @angkymac and @MikeNArk

thank you for the kind comments

actual sunrise was approximately 7:20 am

the photo in the original post was taken 2022-04-01 07:31 AM

Astronomical Twilight started 5:29 am

Nautical Twilight started 6:22 am

Civil Twilight started 6:53 am

Sunrise and sunset times in Great Bend Prairie

Twilight is the time between day and night when there is light outside, but the Sun is below the horizon.

Civil twilight occurs when the Sun is less than 6 degrees below the horizon. In the morning, civil twilight begins when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and ends at sunrise . . . Civil twilight is the brightest form of twilight. There is enough natural sunlight during this period that artificial light may not be required to carry out outdoor activities. Only the brightest celestial objects can be observed by the naked eye during this time. . . .

Nautical twilight occurs when the center of the Sun is between 6 degrees and 12 degrees below the horizon. This twilight period is less bright than civil twilight and artificial light is generally required for outdoor activities. . . .

Astronomical twilight occurs when the Sun is between 12 degrees and 18 degrees below the horizon.. . .

The Different Types of Twilight, Dawn and Dusk

Blind was located south of the lek, the sun was to the right of the blind

the six of us and the guide left the Fort Hays State University Kansas Wetlands Education Center at about 5:45 am drove to the private property, parked the van and then walked to the blind in the dark and waited quietly for the birds to arrive at the leks in front of the blind. the booming started and the scene became brighter

" twilight " yes but not in the evening



this photo, crop and pp, was taken at 2022-04-01 07:11 AM and is the first usable photo I got