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Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)

Photo credit: Tom Brakefield
© California Academy of Sciences.

Length: 16-19 in.
Habitat: deciduous forests, especially those with scattered clearings; abandoned farmlands and overgrown pastures.
Range: Breeds from Alaska and northern Canada south to the Carolinas, South Dakota, and California, and in the Appalacians to Georgia.

This is a brown chicken-like bird with a fan-shaped, black-banded tail and black "ruffs" on the sides of the neck.

Female gives soft henlike clucks. In spring the male often sits on a log and beats the air with its wings, creating a drumming sound that increases rapidly in tempo.

The Ruffed Grouse is one of the most highly esteemed gamebirds in North America. Ruffed Grouse are taken annually in large numbers. However, as long as suitable habitat exists, the species seems able to withstand this pressure. Although large numbers of eggs are laid, young grouse have many enemies and few of the young reach maturity. In winter, the grouse grow comb-like rows of bristles on their toes, which serve as snowshoes.