Pheasants, Grouse, Turkeys

Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus

Family Phasianidae (Pheasants, Grouse, Turkeys)

Size: 17"

Season: Year-round

Habitat: Mixed mountainous woodlands

The ruffed grouse is a cryptically colored ground bird with a thick body, rounded wings, longish tail, and small head that is often peaked in a triangular crest. Two color morphs appear: gray and rufous. The gray morph is mottled gray and brown above and on the head and shows black-and-white spotting. The underside is white, heavily barred with black. Males have a black ruff about the neck that is held erect during display behaviors. Both sexes have a dark, subterminal tail band (often incomplete in females). Rufous morphs are similar but are cast overall with rufous tones. Ruffed grouse feed on the ground or in trees for seeds, berries, and buds. Their most distinctive sound is a repeated low, muffled whoompf, increasing in tempo, that the male bird produces by pumping its wings together. The adult male (gray morph) is illustrated.