Editing Sharp-tailed grouse (section)

===Brood habitat===
Sharp-tailed grouse are a precocial species, meaning that they hatch with their eyes open, are self-reliant, and do not require the mother to feed them. Shortly after hatching, the chicks and mother leave the nest site in search of cover and food.  Brood rearing habitats of sharp-tailed grouse have many characteristics including: shrubby vegetation for concealment, short vegetation nearby for feeding, and high amounts of forbs present.<ref name="Hamerstrom Jr" /><ref name="Kohn" /><ref name="Manske" /><ref name="Roersma" /><ref name="Goddard" /> This could explain why sharp-tailed grouse nest in or close to shrub communities. The shrub component in brooding habitat provides good canopy protection from direct sunlight and avian predators.<ref name="Roersma" /><ref name="Goddard" />  Hamerstrom (1963) and Goddard et al. (2009) both observed the greatest number of sharp-tailed grouse broods present in open, rather than wooded landscapes. Both hypothesized this use of open landscape was due to an abundance of insects for the chicks and green herbaceous cover for the hen to feed on.
Habitat usage by sharp-tailed grouse broods is a function of time of day, available habitat, and weather.<ref name="Ammann" /><ref name="Kohn" /> Brood habitats are made up of many complex habitat types. Broods may utilize shrubby areas or oak grassland savannah type habitats.<ref name="Hamerstrom Jr" /> Broods utilize these types of habitats for cover, while remaining close to prime foraging habitats in the form of shorter vegetation with a mixture of native vegetation.