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Spruce Grouse

Status Uncommon resident. Breeds. In its restricted habitat it may be fairly common, its population being subject to irregularly recurring fluctuations. This bird is normally found only in nonarable regions, mainly on huge land tracts in the interior, remote from settlement. Large portions of these areas were burned-over many years ago, resulting in the destruction of much of the humus, as evidenced by the sparse and stunted new growth which now covers much of the land. There are innumerable wet sphagnum bogs thickly studded with a poor growth of spruce and tamarack. In such places these birds will be found throughout the year.

Description Length: 31-43 cm. Adult male: A small grouse, coloured black, gray and white, with a small area of featherless red skin above each eye. It is always recognizable by its black chin, throat, lower neck and breast. Adult female: Irregularly barred and mottled with grays, blacks and whites, and with a large admixture of rusty brown, particularly on the upperparts and breast. Bars across nape and upper back are lacking in the Ruffed Grouse.

Breeding Nest: On the ground in open, sunlit clearings bordered by wet sphagnum bogs which provide food and shelter for the birds. It is usually placed at the base of a small evergreen seedling, and is often concealed by low-growing vegetation but perhaps just as often is rather exposed. The nest is merely a slight depression scraped out in the turf, lined with vegetable debris and a few feathers from the bird's breast. Eggs: 4-10, usually 5-6; beautifully marked with spots and blotches of various shades of dark brown and chestnut over a ground colour of buff or pale brown. Of 39 egg clutches examined, all complete, 5 contained four eggs; 11, five; 14, six; 8, seven; and 1, ten.

Laying normally begins about the middle of May and continues for about 10 days. The earliest complete set, six fresh eggs, was found on 17 May 1923, and the latest, again of six, on 27 May 1926. A set of four examined at Albany, Annapolis County, on 26 May 1938 was heavily incubated. A nest that contained 10 eggs was discovered on 9 May 1942 at Black River, Kings County, when it held 6, making it apparent that laying had started on or about 3 May. On 13 May it contained 10 eggs; and the same number on the following day gave evidence that laying was completed. The nest was located on high ground fairly remote from swampland and unusually well concealed in a thick clump of juniper (Juniperus communis), making it exceptional in (1) its location, (2) the date laying began, (3) the number of eggs it contained, and (4) the habitat in which it was placed. The fact that "dustings" were never found near any of the occupied nests is evidence that the female flies a considerable distance from the nest before alighting and returns to it by flight rather than on foot. This wise provision of nature safeguards the nest from trailing predators.

Range The coniferous forests across Alaska and Canada (except Newfoundland), in the east extending as far south as Maine and southern Quebec.

Remarks This bird is commonly called "fool hen." In some respects the name is appropriate, for it often will permit a person to approach within a metre before moving away. On 26 May 1926 at Albany, Annapolis County, a male was caught by dropping a shoe-string snare over its head. It was placed in a bag and taken to a cabin on an island a mile or so away, where it was banded and gently placed on the ground in the hope that it might remain on the island and become a sort of pet. Having other ideas, it immediately sprang into the air and was last seen swiftly heading up the lake in a bee-line toward the spot where it had been captured.

Occasionally one of these birds will suddenly appear in a town or other settled district, some distance from its normal habitat. Such an event occurred in Wolfville on 5 October 1940, when a female was caught by some small boys who brought it to me alive, with no visible mark of injury. It was kept in an enclosure until 17 October when it was taken to a typical habitat and released. During its captivity it was offered various types of food, of which it seemed to prefer apples and fir needles.

The young of the Spruce Grouse, like those of its "ruffed" relative, are able to fly briskly when only a few days old.