Click photo to see complete painting

Ruffed Grouse

Status Rather uncommon to common resident. Breeds. Its populations are heavily reduced periodically by cycles of disease which strike, roughly, at intervals of seven to ten years and occur regionally rather than uniformly over the province; recovery from a low takes approximately three years.

Description Length: 40-48 cm. Adult male: Colours mainly browns and grays; broad, black feathers making "ruffs" on sides of neck; tail long and fan-shaped, with unbroken subterminal band of black. Adult female: Similar but smaller and "ruffs" less conspicuous; cinnamon-rufous breast marking; tail shorter with subterminal band usually broken in centre.

Breeding Nest: On the ground, usually in open second-growth woodlands, often placed at the base of a deciduous tree trunk. The depression is rather deeply cup shaped and copiously lined with dead leaves and a few feathers from the sitting bird. Eggs: 9-13, usually 10; plain buff, sometimes sparsely marked with dots of dark brown. Of 25 nests examined, all with laying completed, 6 contained nine eggs; 16, ten; 2, eleven; and 1, thirteen. Walter E. Whitehead examined a nest of this species on 20 May 1963 near his home at Round Hill, Annapolis County. It had been placed at the base of a spruce in open woodland and contained 18 eggs, half plain and unmarked, and the others with small dark brown dots unevenly distributed over their surface. The size of the clutch and the difference in the colour of the shells strongly indicate that the eggs were the product of two females, a rare incidence in any species of wild bird. Laying normally begins late in April and continues for about two weeks.

The earliest complete set of eggs examined was one of 13 at Margaretsville, Annapolis County, on 6 May 1919, and the latest was a set of`10 at Black River, Kings County, on 22 May 1917. The young leave the nest very soon after hatching and are well able to fly up to perch in trees when only a few days old. When danger threatens the brood, the crafty mother feigns injury, squealing pathetically as though in distress a trick that never seems to fail to lure the enemy away from the little ones.

Range The wooded regions of Canada (except Newfoundland) and the northern United States.

Remarks Many hunters of upland game birds consider the Ruffed Grouse or "birch partridge," as it is commonly called, the finest of them all. In districts close to settlement where considerable hunting pressure has been exerted, it has become extremely wary, taking off in a burst, at the distant approach of its arch-enemy and flying at an angle that quickly puts a screen of vegetation between itself and the hunter, testing the sportsman's skills and powers of coordination to their utmost.

Species of birds belonging to different genera rarely interbreed, but there are several known instances in Nova Scotia of breeding between this bird and the Spruce Grouse, an example of which may be seen in the Downs collection of mounted birds at Acadia University in Wolfville. This male hybrid shows characteristics of both parents, with those of the Ruffed Grouse predominating. Concerning this subject Piers (1894) says:

"A hybrid between the 'Spruce' and 'Birch Partridges,' shot about three or four years ago, is said to be in the collection of Mr. Scott Dawson of Pictou. Mr. McKinley says he has observed only one other such specimen from that neighbourhood. I have seen one in Down's possession. He bought it at a butcher's shop in Halifax."

In addition to the above-cited ruse, the mother bird uses other methods to safeguard her young from enemy attack. Harold F. Tufts was working in his woodlot at Port Mouton, Queens County, in June 1955. His little dog, a timid animal, was nosing about nearby when suddenly an ear-splitting ki-ki-ing and a rustling among the bushes was heard. Suspecting his dog had encountered a porcupine, my brother hastened to the rescue. There was no porcupine; instead his pet was fleeing a wrathful mother grouse fluffed up to double her normal size, hissing menacingly and in hot pursuit. When the dog reached the protection of its master's heels the bird quickly disappeared.

In autumn we sometimes find a Ruffed Grouse in settled districts, even in towns or cities. They may crash through windows or be found sitting stupidly in a cellar or barn. For a time it was commonly believed that these "crazy grouse" were diseased birds suffering from an infestation of parasites or some other affliction. More recently, research workers have come to explain this strange behaviour as merely a manifestation of Nature's insistence that individuals disperse to avoid overcrowding. This theory does not explain, nor is it known, why a few grouse in late fall behave in this "crazy" manner. Natural dispersal is one thing but self-destruction is something else.

Of 157 birds examined during my late hunting days, 80 were females and 77 males, an indication that the ratio between the sexes is practically even.