identifying nocturnal animal sounds thump on tree s ga

Surviving young disperse from their natal brood in the early fall and wander into new areas. Predators, accidents, and rainy, cold weather usually cut their numbers in half before their first fall. Still, the mortality rate is high among grouse chicks. If a fox, weasel, or other predator threatens her young, the hen will try to distract it by feigning a broken wing, in the manner of a Killdeer. Chicks stay with the hen until late September and are fully grown at four months old. Ruffed Grouse chicks are precocial, emerging from the egg covered in down and able to quickly leave the nest area, accompanied by their mother. The hen lays a large clutch of 10 to 14 eggs, which hatch after roughly three weeks. The hen then leaves the male's territory to seek a nest site, wandering up to a half-mile away to find a hollow on the ground, usually within dense cover at the base of a tree trunk or stump. A hen will enter a displaying male's territory, where courtship and mating last only minutes. Even during its spring mating season, contact between the sexes is fleeting. The Ruffed Grouse is a solitary species, unlike the Northern Bobwhite and Wild Turkey. Comb-like projections called pectinations develop along the edges of their toes, which help the birds to walk atop soft snow without sinking, or to roost comfortably on a snow-covered branch. In the late fall, their legs grow a layer of feathers, which helps to conserve body heat. Ruffed Grouse are cold-adapted in other ways, too. A grouse may stay beneath the snow for a few days if the weather is especially severe.

Cold winters without snow are particularly hard on Ruffed Grouse, since they stay warm by burrowing under the snow. Its populations rise and fall at intervals of about 10 years depending upon available food and cover, predation, and weather. They prefer aspen or mixed deciduous-coniferous forest in early stages of succession, with dense underbrush that provides both shelter and food.Īround 15 subspecies of Ruffed Grouse are recognized, separated by color and a few other physical characteristics these are grouped into the broader categories of Pacific Northwest races Interior West and central Canadian races and eastern races.Īlthough the Ruffed Grouse does not migrate, it may make short seasonal movements to areas with more winter cover. Ruffed Grouse are forest birds, found in suitable habitat from the Appalachian Mountains and Canadian Maritime provinces across Canada to the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest, then up as far north as central Alaska. Listen to the unique 'drumming' of a Ruffed Grouse here: Ruffed Grouse do not display at communal areas, or leks, as do prairie grouse. A male will stay in that territory year-round, often for his entire adult life. Each male Ruffed Grouse defends a territory of up to 10 acres, usually shared with one or two females. He starts slowly, but quickly accelerates the motion until his wings become a blur, producing a sound like a drumroll or distant motor that can be heard from as far away as a quarter-mile or more.īesides advertising to female grouse, this drumming also serves to warn off other males. This fanning motion creates a compression and release of air that produces a 'thump' sound. This amazing display begins atop a favored platform - usually a log, boulder, or stump - where the male Ruffed Grouse stands tall, braces backwards on his tail, and begins to fan the air by rotating his wings back and forth. Ornithologist Arthur Cleveland Bent called the drumming of the male Ruffed Grouse 'the throbbing heart of awakening spring.' The male grouse produces this unique sound year-round, but particularly in spring, when advertising his presence to nearby females. The “Ruffed” in its name comes from its black or brown neck feathers, which the male flares into a ruff during courtship displays or territorial defense.Īlthough usually a solitary and retiring forest species, this small grouse makes itself noticeable through the male's persistent percussive displays. Like the Eastern Screech-Owl, the Ruffed Grouse occurs in gray and reddish-brown color morphs. Early settlers, who hunted this bird extensively, called it the 'Wood Hen,' in reference to its favored forest habitats.

One of North America's 12 native grouse species - a group that includes the Greater Sage-Grouse, Dusky Grouse, and Greater Prairie-Chicken - the bantam-sized Ruffed Grouse is one of the most familiar, particularly to game hunters.

Identifying nocturnal animal sounds thump on tree s ga