Ruffed Grouse

Bonasa umbellus

Drums on a log with cupped wings, a thumping that travels half a mile. The forest's hidden percussionist.

Population: ~18 million mature individuals (2006 estimate, data quality noted as poor by BirdLife/IUCN); overall trend stable per IUCN, though this masks a long-term U.S. Christmas Bird Count decline offset by a stable Canadian trend
Habitat: Temperate and boreal deciduous/mixed forests, especially young/early-successional mixed woodland rich in aspen, spruce, and birch in the north, oak-hickory-pine forest farther south, and riparian habitat in the Pacific Northwest; uses dense conifer stands or burrows into snow for winter roosting
Fun fact: Male Ruffed Grouse attract mates with a "drumming" display — rapidly beating their wings against the air (not against their body or a log) to create a series of compressed air thumps that can be heard up to a quarter-mile away.
Range: North America: non-migratory resident from the Appalachian Mountains, across Canada, to Alaska and throughout the northern/central U.S.; introduced population on St. Pierre and Miquelon; extent of occurrence ~15.5 million km^2 per IUCN
Diet: Omnivorous — buds, leaves, catkins, berries, seeds and insects, with documented opportunistic animal prey (e.g., salamanders, small snakes); aspen buds are a critical winter food, and the species can digest fibrous, bitter/toxic plant matter many birds cannot tolerate
Size: 0.45 m
Wingspan: 0.57 m
Lifespan: 11 years

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