The male grouse is an aggressive defender of his territory. He makes a distinct drumming sound to proclaim his property rights and to advertise to females that he is nearby. The sound is created by his beating his wings in the air. He will stand on a log, a mound of dirt or a rock while he 'drums.' He does not strike the log to make the noise; it is only the stage for his performance. After mating, there is no further association between the male and his mate; she raises her chicks on her own.

Species Description:
Length: 35.5 - 43.2 cm
Physical characteristics: A chicken-like bird with a slight crest on its head, its primary color can be a mottled reddish-brown or gray. The belly is white with bold, dark bars on the flanks. There is a broad dark band on the end of the fan-shaped tail and dark ruffs (a triangular-shaped group of longer feathers) on either side of the neck. Sexes are similar.
Voice: Ruffed grouse cluck. This species is often detected by the drumming of a male. Drumming consists of a male rapidly beating his wings together to create a sound often likened to that of a distant car starting.

Breeding habitat:
The Ruffed Grouse occurs in deciduous or deciduous/coniferous forests with dense understory.

Mating system
Promiscuous; only one clutch is produced per year, but a hen may lay again if her first clutch fails early in the season.

Nest:
The nest is located on the ground, usually at the base of a tree, stump or rock. It is in a hollow scraped out by the female that is lined with dead leaves and feathers.

Eggs:
A clutch usually contains 9 to 12 eggs, which are buff in color and marked lightly with browns. 39mm (1.5 in).

Chick development:
Incubation and care of the young is handled exclusively by the female. Incubation lasts 23 to 26 days. The young are precocial at hatching and are able to leave the nest quite soon. They fledge at 10 to 12 days, but may remain with the mother for 8 to 10 weeks. The female will aggressively defend her young, or may feign injury to lure a predator away from her brood.

Diet:
This bird?s diet consists primarily of fruit, seeds, buds and flowers. It does eat a small quantity of insects. The young feed mostly on insects.

Conservation Biology:
The Ruffed Grouse is not listed as threatened or endangered. Its populations may go through cycles of high and low numbers. Mortality can be high among young birds, particularly in a harsh winter.

Breeding: The Ruffed Grouse can be found from central Alaska across Canada, south in the East to the Carolinas and around the Great Lakes area. In the West, it is found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana and south to the extreme northeastern corner of Utah.

Winter: This species is a permanent resident across its range. It spends all its life in a limited area, usually not far from where it was hatched. In winter this bird will dive and burrow in the snow to keep warm and protect itself from predators.

The Ruffed Grouse is a fairly common year-round resident bird species in the Park. A survey of breeding birds in the park, performed from 1996-1999, ranked Ruffed Grouse as the 67th most abundant species out of 113 species observed during the breeding season. Estimates from this survey indicate that overall Ruffed Grouse density in the park during the breeding season is approximately 0.012 pairs per hectare.

References:

Alsop, F. J. III. 1991. Birds Of The Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains History Association, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117: 847-858.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2002. Forty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 119: 897-906.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds: the Species of Birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands, 7th ed

Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The Birder's Handbook: a Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York.

Elphick, C., J. B. Dunning, Jr., and D. A. Sibley, eds. 2001. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press.