by: Bob Bancroft
FALL 1989
A muted sound drifted through the bedroom window in the darkness before a spring dawn. "Putt...putt...putt...brrrrrrrrrmmmmmmm". Too early for some fool with a chainsaw, or a lawn mower. I dozed off again with the happy realization that the grouse had survived another winter.
Ruffed grouse, or "partridge" as they are locally called, are the only birds that drum by pounding the air. Chicken-shaped and weighing less than a kilogram (about a pound and a half), ruffed grouse have handsome feathers patterned with brown, black and buff. Their name comes from a ruff or collar of dark feathers which males fluff out to attract females.
Males drum each spring to attract a mate and proclaim a territory. Climbing a fallen log, rock or a melting snowdrift, they stand upright with tail spread wide and, with a firm grip of the claws, pump the air with strong wings. Putt...putt...putt...Then, like an engine suddenly catching ignition, the wings beat full throttle. Brrrrrrrrrmmmmmm. Air is compressed by nearly 50 wingbeats in eight seconds to produce a low frequency. (40 cycles per second) sound that can be heard up to 1-1 ½ km away. One male may use as many as six locations for drumming, but one site is usually favoured. One grouse was observed drumming on a log completely surrounded by floodwaters.
Drumming echoes off trees and hillsides, confusing predators as to the origin and distance of the sound. Apparently great horned owls cannot hear the sound and bypass most drumming sites.
In good habitat, ruffed grouse territories cover 2.5-4 hectares (6 to 10 acres). Often these territories are clustered. The reasons for this are unclear. Suitable habitat is frequently patchy. Another reason may be that one male's drumming prompts others to drum. This may serve to attract more females. During the breeding season, a female may visit several territories and witness several males drumming before she mates and chooses a sheltered spot for a nest.
Ruffed grouse require three types of habitat:
- Brushy areas with low growing cover are used by females rearing their broods and for food in summer and fall. Leaves and insects are preferred.
- Older stands of hardwoods, such as aspen or poplar, birch, choke cherry and service berry, supply buds in fall, winter and spring. Apple trees are favourite autumn feeding spots. Grouse eat rose hips in midwinter. Male flowers (catkins)of aspen, poplar and other hardwoods are a protein-rich food in spring.
- Limby softwoods growing in open areas provide night-time roosts, shelter from predators and escape from cold winter winds.
Nests are built each spring in alder thickets, mixed wood and hardwood stands, and sometimes Christmas tree lots. Cup-shaped nests lined with leaves are built on the ground, often near the base of a tree. The female lays from nine to 13 eggs in late April or early May.
Newly hatched chicks follow their mother when only a few hours old. Females provide parental attention for eight to 10 weeks, vigorously defending their young. I have been viciously attacked on my own doorstep by a female grouse protecting her brood. The only gentlemanly thing to do was run back into the house and leave quietly by another door.
Stories about unusual grouse behaviour are numerous. Grouse sometimes become very tame. Some come to the sound of a logger's axe, or even a tractor motor. Photographers have trick grouse within range of viewfinders by beating on their chest or on the ground to imitate drumming. Grouse will occasionally attack tractors or pantlegs with a vengeance, or do battle with their own image in a window or hub cap.
During the fall young grouse, seeking territory of their own, may disperse several kilometres from the four-12 ha (10-30 ac.) where they grew up. Away from familiar surroundings, many fly into vehicles, walls or windows. The office staff of Rod and Gun Magazine in Quebec were reported startled one day when a grouse burst through a window and proceeded to perch on a bookcase.
Grouse populations increase and decrease in cycles and are known to be influenced by changes in forest habitat quality, the type of snow cover, nesting success and predation. For reasons not fully understood, the ability of grouse to tolerate cold weather appears to change over time.
For more information on managing your forested lands for ruffed grouse, write to us at the address below.