Ruffed Grouse
Bonasa umbellus

Migratory Status: Resident

PIF Population Estimate: 8 000 000

Percent of western hemisphere population breeding in boreal forest: 54%

BAM Effective Detection Radius (m) : 82.58

PIF Maximum Detection Distance (m) : 200

Canadian BBS Population trend: -2.6 (-4.8 to -0.4)

Life History

Ruffed Grouse are year-round residents of North America’s deciduous and coniferous forests. Males declare their territories in the spring with an authoritative drumming sound, which can also be heard throughout the year. This non-vocal display is distinctive to Ruffed Grouse: males perch on a raised surface like a stump, log or boulder, and quickly beat their wings. They begin slowly and then rapidly accelerate to create a drum-roll effect, completing roughly 50 wing beats during each ten-second display.

Ruffed Grouse are aptly named, having a group of black feathers on the sides of the neck that can be erected, creating a ruff (a collar effect). Males and females are cryptically coloured to blend in with the forest floor, with a mottled plumage of gray, brown, and black. Males are slightly larger than females, with a large crest that they can erect on their head, and two or more whitish spots on their rump. Females are similar but have a smaller crest and ruff, and only one whitish spot on their rump. Red and gray colour forms or morphs exist, gray being the more dominate form in northern areas, and red being more dominant to the south.

Ruffed Grouse are most abundant in early successional deciduous forests, with optimal habitat consisting of a combination of young and old forest that provides both food and cover. The range extends throughout boreal forest from central Alaska eastward to Newfoundland. In the United States, populations extend southward into northern California, Utah, and Alabama on the west coast, and around the Great Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains in the east.

Adult Ruffed Grouse are herbivores, feeding on the leaves, buds, and fruit of plants during the summer, and switching to seeds, twigs, catkins, and berries in the fall and winter. Young also feed on insects and other invertebrates. The catkins and buds of Aspen (Populus spp.), Willow (Salix spp.), and Birch (Betula spp.) become a very important stable of their diet in northern areas in late winter. Ruffed Grouse flush easily from the ground and will take cover from predators in the canopy of trees or in thick, shrubby vegetation.

Ruffed Grouse have interesting adaptations for surviving winter conditions. They will roost in conifers or burrow into soft snow roosting to gain protection from wind and heat loss. Also, the toes of these birds have small projections that enable their feet to function like snowshoes, helping grouse to walk on snow.

Reference(s)

Giroux, W., P. Blanchette, J. Bourgeois, and G. Cabana. 2007. Ruffed Grouse brood habitat use in mixed softwood-harwood nordic-temperate forests, Quebec, Canada, Journal of Wildlife Management, 71(1):87-95.

Rusch, D. H., S. Destefano, M. C. Reynolds, and D. Lauten. 2000. Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), The Birds of North America Online, . A. Poole, Ed. Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North America Online database: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/515

Zimmerman, G. S., R. R. Horton, D. R. Dessecker, and R. J. Gutiérrez. 2008. New insight to old hypotheses: Ruffed Grouse population cycles, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 120(2):239-247.