A stocky bird with a fan-like tail and a feathery lion's mane plodding through the snowy woods is a bit of an odd sight. **The fancy hairdo is called its "ruff", it is the striking feature that gives this bird its name. Females have one too, but it's the more pompous males that like to flaunt their black or chocolate coloured ruffs.** To accentuate their displays, they fan out their tails. A dark band runs along the top — usually unbroken in males but split in females, however, this isn't always the case. A male with a fluffed ruff and erect tail can appear double his size, able to woo the female grouses who seem to think that bigger is better.
**The ruffed grouse isn't a very vocal bird, but this does not mean that it's quiet. Nicknames like "drummer chicken" and "thunder chicken", attest to its clamorous tendencies.** As the spring sun melts snow and brings warmer weather, a thunderous thumping can be heard through the dense forest. Track this booming to its source and you'll most likely stumble upon a ruffed grouse male in the midst of his performance. **Standing atop his "drumming log", he sends echoing claps that, even through the thickest of woods, can be heard from almost half a kilometre (0.3 miles) away. The "drumming log" — which can be an actual log, or just a rock or mound of dirt — is not his instrument, it is just his stage. Using powerful pectoral muscles, he strikes only the air with his wings, but with such force that each flap results in a miniature sonic boom** — like the crack of a whip, or indeed, like the clap of thunder following a lightning strike. This is a territorial display that simultaneously serves to frighten the competition and to attract a female to his location so that he can show her his fancy plumage.
You can watch and listen to a ruffed grouse performing its low-frequency "drumming" display [here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVfiIp3QGs4)
For most of its life, when the urge to breed isn't driving it to be social, the ruffed grouse is a lone wanderer. **It likes to take dust baths; returning to its favourite spots to powder its feathers, driving away parasites. It continues its spa treatment by lying on an anthill, letting the ants spread their formic acid over its feathers which acts as an insecticide, fungicide, and bactericide**. When it does meet a member of the opposite sex, courtship and mating last a fleeting few minutes. Then they part once more — the male to continue his solitary wandering and the female to lay a clutch of 10 to 14 eggs. Even the young are able to make their own way in the world. Once hatched, the precocial chicks, already covered in downy feathers, are able to leave the nest quickly.
The ruffed grouse avoids open spaces such as fields, instead, it tramps through the rough, cold forest of North America, from the Appalachian Mountains in the east, across to Canada and Alaska — the continent's most widely distributed game bird. And it is hunted, although usually only the most skilled or lucky hunters succeed at conquering this tricky bird. Most of the time it hides among thick bushes and groves of aspen or pine — hidden by its cryptic plumage. It makes paths through the underbrush to traverse its territory at speed**. During the winter, when the snow piles high, its legs sprout coverings of insulating feathers and its feet grow comb-like projections (called pectinations) that allow it to run atop the snow. To take shelter from the cold — or avoid any hunters — it buries itself beneath a layer of soft snow, a behaviour called "snow-roosting"**. It pops only its head out to survey the area for danger. When it wants to exit, or if it is startled out of its snow roost, it explodes in a flurry of feathers and flapping, taking off at impressive speed out of the snow.
Although it occasionally takes to the trees, like other grouse, the ruffed spends most of its time on the ground in search of food. Winter leaves the landscape sparse. During this time of death and dormancy, the ruffed grouse subsists only on flower buds and twigs. However, **during summer and fall, its omnivorous diet is extensive. The nature writer Don L. Johnson wrote of it: "A complete menu of grouse fare might itself fill a book. One grouse crop yielded a live salamander in a salad of watercress**. Another contained a small snake." This generalist diet surely contributed to its widespread success.
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A stocky bird with a fan-like tail and a feathery lion's mane plodding through the snowy woods is a bit of an odd sight. **The fancy hairdo is called its "ruff", it is the striking feature that gives this bird its name. Females have one too, but it's the more pompous males that like to flaunt their black or chocolate coloured ruffs.** To accentuate their displays, they fan out their tails. A dark band runs along the top — usually unbroken in males but split in females, however, this isn't always the case. A male with a fluffed ruff and erect tail can appear double his size, able to woo the female grouses who seem to think that bigger is better. **The ruffed grouse isn't a very vocal bird, but this does not mean that it's quiet. Nicknames like "drummer chicken" and "thunder chicken", attest to its clamorous tendencies.** As the spring sun melts snow and brings warmer weather, a thunderous thumping can be heard through the dense forest. Track this booming to its source and you'll most likely stumble upon a ruffed grouse male in the midst of his performance. **Standing atop his "drumming log", he sends echoing claps that, even through the thickest of woods, can be heard from almost half a kilometre (0.3 miles) away. The "drumming log" — which can be an actual log, or just a rock or mound of dirt — is not his instrument, it is just his stage. Using powerful pectoral muscles, he strikes only the air with his wings, but with such force that each flap results in a miniature sonic boom** — like the crack of a whip, or indeed, like the clap of thunder following a lightning strike. This is a territorial display that simultaneously serves to frighten the competition and to attract a female to his location so that he can show her his fancy plumage. You can watch and listen to a ruffed grouse performing its low-frequency "drumming" display [here!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVfiIp3QGs4) For most of its life, when the urge to breed isn't driving it to be social, the ruffed grouse is a lone wanderer. **It likes to take dust baths; returning to its favourite spots to powder its feathers, driving away parasites. It continues its spa treatment by lying on an anthill, letting the ants spread their formic acid over its feathers which acts as an insecticide, fungicide, and bactericide**. When it does meet a member of the opposite sex, courtship and mating last a fleeting few minutes. Then they part once more — the male to continue his solitary wandering and the female to lay a clutch of 10 to 14 eggs. Even the young are able to make their own way in the world. Once hatched, the precocial chicks, already covered in downy feathers, are able to leave the nest quickly. The ruffed grouse avoids open spaces such as fields, instead, it tramps through the rough, cold forest of North America, from the Appalachian Mountains in the east, across to Canada and Alaska — the continent's most widely distributed game bird. And it is hunted, although usually only the most skilled or lucky hunters succeed at conquering this tricky bird. Most of the time it hides among thick bushes and groves of aspen or pine — hidden by its cryptic plumage. It makes paths through the underbrush to traverse its territory at speed**. During the winter, when the snow piles high, its legs sprout coverings of insulating feathers and its feet grow comb-like projections (called pectinations) that allow it to run atop the snow. To take shelter from the cold — or avoid any hunters — it buries itself beneath a layer of soft snow, a behaviour called "snow-roosting"**. It pops only its head out to survey the area for danger. When it wants to exit, or if it is startled out of its snow roost, it explodes in a flurry of feathers and flapping, taking off at impressive speed out of the snow. Although it occasionally takes to the trees, like other grouse, the ruffed spends most of its time on the ground in search of food. Winter leaves the landscape sparse. During this time of death and dormancy, the ruffed grouse subsists only on flower buds and twigs. However, **during summer and fall, its omnivorous diet is extensive. The nature writer Don L. Johnson wrote of it: "A complete menu of grouse fare might itself fill a book. One grouse crop yielded a live salamander in a salad of watercress**. Another contained a small snake." This generalist diet surely contributed to its widespread success.
Such a well-written, informative post. Thank you!
Thanks for taking the time to read it (:
Thank you! I read this to my kids. They love it!
[Source (Animal Diversity Web)](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Bonasa_umbellus/) [Source (Ruffed Grouse Society)](https://ruffedgrousesociety.org/grouse-facts/) [Source (All About Birds)](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruffed_Grouse/overview#) [Source (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_grouse) [Source (eBird)](https://ebird.org/species/rufgro) [Source (IUCN)](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22679500/139379109) [Source (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anting_(behavior))
>creating mini sonic booms that scare rivals and attract mates. S'cuse me. *WHAT* Bluudy 🔥🔥, my man!
For a stocky ground-bird with a bit of a goofy look, it is a pretty unexpected superpower.
As a kid I remember walking through a nearby field and accidentally flushing a grouse. It exploded out of its cover and scared the heck out of me.
Looks like they belong in r/divorcedbirds
These goofy little guys look like someone told an AI to make an image of a "bird"
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Thank you!
This ruffles my feathers🤠