{"id":1067,"date":"2017-11-10T11:50:46","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T11:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2017-11-10T23:02:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T23:02:25","slug":"an-introduction-to-the-ruffed-grouse-bonasa-umbellus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/2017\/11\/10\/an-introduction-to-the-ruffed-grouse-bonasa-umbellus\/","title":{"rendered":"An Introduction to the Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"\"<\/a><\/em>Figure 1) Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa\u00a0umbellus)<\/p>\n

The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus<\/em>) is the most widely distributed resident game bird in North America (Johnsgard 1973). Belonging to the order Galliformes, the ruffed grouse is related to chickens, turkeys, pheasants, and quails (Collicutt n.d.). The Ruffed grouse is a non-migratory bird that lives year-round in deciduous and coniferous forests throughout North America, spanning from as far north as central Alaska and as far south as northern Georgia (Rusch et al. 2000). \u00a0The ruffed grouse depends on shrub-dominated and young forest habitats for protection against predators (Dessecker and McAuley 2001). In the winter, ruffed grouse have been known to burrow into the snow to avoid detection by predators and to help conserve heat (Ruffed Grouse Society 2017).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Figure 2) Ruffed Grouse Home Range<\/p>\n

The scientific name Bonasa umbellus<\/em> comes from the Latin word bonasa<\/em> meaning \u201cgood when roasted\u201d and umbellus<\/em> meaning \u201cumbrella\u201d referring to the black tuffs on their neck (Collicutt n.d.). The ruffed grouse occurs in two colour morphs; gray and red with intermediates occurring between (Rusch et al. 2000). The gray colour morph predominates in the colder northern parts of its range and the red morph more predominating in milder climates in the south of its range (Rusch et al. 2000). These grouse also have a conspicuous black band on the tail (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Males and females are very similar in appearance and are often difficult to distinguish, however, males are often slightly larger than females with larger neck ruffs and most often (though not always!) have an uninterrupted black band around their tail as well as a longer tail (Arkive n.d.). The average size of ruffed grouse is comparable to a medium-sized chicken.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Figure 3) Red (top) versus grey (bottom) colour morphs<\/p>\n

This grouse is primarily a ground-dwelling bird, spending most of their time foraging for buds, leaves, berries, seeds, and insects (Collicutt n.d.). Without the help of the distinct drumming sound it can be quite difficult to spot a Ruffed Grouse because of their quiet nature and cryptic colouration, however, when alarmed they may explode into flight with loud burst of wingbeats, often starling hikers!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Ruffed Grouse is perhaps best known for the distinct drumming sound -much like an engine trying to start- produced by the male. It can come as a surprise that the unique sound, comes from a bird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)! The sound is produced by the bird quickly rotating its wings forward and backward, creating a miniature vacuum that generates a deep thumping sound wave that can be heard from long distances (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).<\/p>\n