Heath hens lived in the scrubby heathland barrens of coastal North America from southernmost New Hampshire to northern Virginia in historical times.

A more recent study[6] of the same parameter by Johnson and Dunn verified these results, but disagreed in the placement of the heath hen respective to its relatives, suggesting a closer relationship with the lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) instead.

[8] Thus, given the fact that all heath hen specimens from known localities studied by Johnson and Dunn are Martha's Vineyard birds (where the carrying capacity may never have exceeded several thousand, due to the limited space and limited genetic exchange with the mainland), it is possible that the low genetic diversity and apparent distinctness of the heath hen are a result of the small number of useful specimens being predominantly from a small island population.

From an evolutionary biology aspect, in a 60 (or even 100) year timeframe, a subspecies like the greater prairie chicken would not have been able to evolve to the point where it would so closely resemble the native heath hen that it could not be distinguished.

The apparent distinctness of the species and the failure of the early introductions raises the question of whether the heath hen was uniquely (by comparison with its relatives) adapted to the more oceanic climate and more forested habitats of its former area of occurrence, and in consequence, whether a future attempt to establish a population of the western birds on Martha's Vineyard could be bound to fail, possibly even by competing for funding and other resources jeopardizing the extant but much declined populations of the prairie chickens.

Very similar to the other greater prairie chicken subspecies of the Great Plains, but slightly smaller,[11] the length of the bird was approximately 17 inches (43 cm) and weight was about two pounds (0.9 kg).

These were protected by a hunting ban and by the establishment in 1908 of the "Heath Hen Reserve" (today the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest), and the population rapidly grew to almost 2,000: by the mid-1910s, observing the birds on their lekking grounds had become something of a tourist attraction.

He was last seen on his traditional lekking ground between West Tisbury and today's Martha's Vineyard Airport on March 11, 1932 – early in the breeding season - and thus presumably died, about 8 years old, days or only hours afterwards from unknown causes.

[citation needed] Footage of Booming Ben recorded by Alfred Otto Gross in the early 1930s was digitized in 2017; it is available from the Bowdoin College special collections.

[4] Realizing the degradation that has affected the State Forest (and although it does hold some biodiversity, prevents it from being utilized to its full potential), reestablishment of the original shrubland/heath/woods mosaic and eventual introduction of the closely related greater prairie chicken subspecies as an "umbrella species" that serves as an indicator of good habitat quality has been discussed since the late 1990s.