ODNR Division of Wildlife - A to Z Species Guide - Ruffed Grouse

 Ruffed Grouse

ruffed grouse

Upland birds are known for several traits which distinguish them from other birds. They are chicken-like in appearance, and have short, rounded wings, short heavy bills, and heavy bodies. They stay on dry ground and seek cover in brush or woodlands. Typically, these birds do not migrate, but adapt to seasonal changes.

The ruffed grouse is the most widely distributed game bird in North America and is found in portions of 39 states and 11 Canadian provinces. It reaches its greatest abundance in the aspen forests of the Upper Great Lakes region and is famous for the 10-year population cycles associated with fluctuations in snowshoe hares and predators such as Northern goshawks and lynx.


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Ruffed Grouse
Bonasa umbellus

At-a-Glance

• Mating: Polygynous.

• Peak Breeding Activity: March-April

• Nesting Period: April-May; peak of hatch in late May.

• Clutch Size: 9 –12 eggs

• Young: Precocial; leave nest when down is dry; first flight at 1-2 weeks; resemble adults at 16 weeks; sexually mature at 10-12 months.

• Number of Broods Per Year: 1; if first nest is destroyed, may renest and lay a smaller clutch of eggs; renest average 7 eggs.

• Feeding Periods: Feeds mostly in early morning and late afternoon, but active throughout the day.

• Typical Foods: Omnivorous: seeds, buds, flowers, berries, catkins, leaves, insects, spiders, and snails.

• Nest: shallow depressions in the leaf litter, often beside boulders, under logs, or at the base of trees
Description
The ruffed grouse is a large chicken-like bird with a fan-shaped tail. Most grouse in Ohio are of the red (sometimes called brown) color phase, although the gray phase occurs occasionally in northeast Ohio. The black ruff on each side of the neck is most conspicuous in the male. A black band, extending across and near the end of the tail is interrupted with a mottled grayish-brown on the central tail feathers in most females and in some males. A fully developed central tail feather will measure (when plucked) more than 6 1 /4 inches in 99 percent of males; it is almost always shorter in females.

Habitat and Habits
Good grouse habitat includes three general forest types: mixed species stands of hardwood shrubs, saplings, and brush-vine tangles; moist areas with dense clumps of shrubs interspersed with lush herbaceous growth; and young forest stands of mixed hardwoods. Drumming logs are typically found in dense sapling stands that afford protection from aerial predators while the male is drumming.

Early in the fall, broods break-up and a phenomenon called “crazy flight” occurs. Young grouse disperse from their natal range and may move several miles to an unoccupied territory.

Reproduction and Care of the Young
The male ruffed grouse performs his annual spring mating display on a platform – usually a log, but stumps, earthen banks, or large rocks are sometimes used. Standing on the platform, male grouse brace themselves and beat their wings slowly at first, then more rapidly for 8-10 seconds to produce the “drumming” sound -- a hollow, low-pitched sound created when air rushes into the vacuum created by their wingbeats.

The hen incubates the eggs without any help from the male for 24 days. Down-covered chicks hatch in the last two weeks in May and are escorted from the nest site by the hen as soon as they are dry. Chicks can feed as soon as they hatch, but they must be brooded frequently by the hen for the first two to three weeks while their flight feathers develop. During this early period, the hen will often charge an approaching predator with ruffs and crests erected, wings spread, and make a hissing sound to protect the brood; other times the hen may lead predators away from her brood with a broken wing display.