Guide to Wildlife Identification
What You
Should Know | Finding Wildlife
| Game or Non-Game | Techniques
| Signs | Distribution
| Warning for Hunters | Final
Quiz | Over 100 Wildlife Fact
Sheets
Ruffed Grouse(Bonasa umbellus)Size:
Distribution
in North America: |
The male makes his familiar drumming sound by rapidly vibrating his wings over a hollow log, while raising his crest and ruff. Drumming is a mating display to attract females. Ruffed grouse stay in small family groups during the summer, and gather into large flocks in winter.
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Habitat:
- Mixed evergreen and broad-leaved forest and shrubs; most often in broad-leaved woodlands. Their diet consists of young green shoots and leaves, insects and berries during the spring months. In winter they feed on seeds and buds.
Notes:
- Similar in size to spruce grouse and sharp-tailed grouse, but has larger, fan-shaped tail.
- Named for the “ruff” of dark feathers along the sides of the neck. (Many people incorrectly call this bird the “Rough” grouse.)
- Calls with a series of squawks, peeps, and clucks.
- During spring mating season, the male “drums” his wings over a fallen log, making a characteristic “whump-whump-whump-pump-pump-pump” sound that is often heard by turkey and mushroom hunters.
- Secretive, cautious birds that flush from the ground with an explosive burst of speed when disturbed.
