The Gunnison sage grouse makes its home in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. This bird is about one-third the size of the greater sage grouse and the males have darker feathers and tall plumes on the top of their heads. Their population has declined significantly from historical numbers with less than 2,700 birds thought to still survive in eight isolated communities.

In 2000 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated the Gunnison sage grouse a "candidate" for the Endangered Species list because it has disappeared from most of its historic habitat. However, in 2006 the Service removed the Gunnison sage grouse from their Candidate list, throwing its future into even greater uncertainty. Major threats to the Gunnison sage grouse are development, habitat destruction, and reduced genetic variation due to population loss.