Ruffed Grouse    Bonasa umbellus

Conservation Status

General Status in Canada : Secure

COSEWIC Status : Not assessed

The Ruffed Grouse is a popular game species, and in the past when there were few regulations, hunting may have caused localised population declines. Grouse hunting is now strictly regulated through permitting, bag limits, area closures and season lengths, and so it is not likely the cause of population declines documented by Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) across North America. A more likely factor is reduction of early successional habitats, the preferred habitat of this species. Where the distribution of Ruffed Grouse overlaps geographically with the Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus), they become an alternate prey item for Northern Goshawks (Accipter gentilis) and Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) when Hare populations decline. This could affect local abundances. Temperature, precipitation and the type of snow cover (e.g. soft snow pack versus a snow pack with an ice crust) might also play a role in regulating Ruffed Grouse populations.

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.