The species entered from the east with early deforestation and agricultural frontier. The population of the above specimen persists for the longest of any in Minnesota dating back to the 1890s. An eastern subspecies – the heath hen – is extinct; a Texas subspecies is federally endangered. The species increased with agriculture but ironically is dying because of transformation of agricultural types.

Since childhood I have been associated with this beautiful bird; I witnessed its elaborate courtship displays of flocks from my frosty upstairs farmhouse bedroom window in a house that is no more. I learned later this population had entered the area in the 1890s with early agricultural settlement. It has persisted until the present but in 2006 only about 6 individuals were seen. I co-authored a technical paper which summarizes all that is known of the species in Wadena County Minnesota.
– Dick Oehlenschlager, Biology