By Misi Stine, Environmental Educator and member of the MN Herpetological Society
Fall is my favorite time of year, with the cooler weather, the beautiful colors, and its hunting season for upland birds. It seems like spending some time talking about the Ruffed Grouse would be a natural fit, as my fiancée and I prepare to go out into the woods for this favorite fall activity.
Ruffed grouse are a common upland bird throughout Minnesota, on average they are about 12 inches long and weigh around 1.5 pounds as adults. They get their common name from their neck ruff or feathers. They are found everywhere in Minnesota outside the prairie grassland biome. They prefer young to middle-aged aspen forests but will also utilize alder lowlands and gray dogwood in the summer and fall. In addition, they have a great winter survival strategy, spending most of their time under the snow, which helps them avoid predation and the snow acts like insulation to keep them warm. When they do come out from their snowy burrows, they have comb-like fringes on their toes that act like snowshoes to help them move through their winter habitat with greater ease.
Mdf, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Outside of mating, they live a solitary life, unlike other game bird species that live in flocks or coveys. Their populations, like snowshoe hare and other wildlife species, go up and down in a 10-year cycle. The reason for these cycles is not known to science.
As adults, ruffed grouse are herbivores eating twigs, buds, catkins, leaves (clover is a favorite,) soft fruits, acorns, and some insects. The chick’s diet is made up mostly of insects.
In nature, we know that everything is food for something, and this is also true of the ruffed grouse as well. Animals that prey on them include birds of prey (goshawk, great horned owls) and mammals such as fox, fisher, and bobcat.
USFWS midwest, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
One of the amazing things about these birds is their mating courtship. In the spring, the males perform the courtship ritual. When you look at the male during this ritual, their fan-shaped tails are in full display, and they will puff up their neck ruff. While in the dense brush, they will stand so they are elevated, like on a log, tree roots, or big rock, and start to drum, which is done by compressing air beneath its wings. He hopes to attract a mate through this elaborate display. The males are territorial and have also been found to use drumming to defend their territory throughout the year.
In this area, the peak mating season is in late April. Nests are typically found in a depression in the ground, or a fallen log or tree stump. Parenting is solely the job of the female. The average clutch size is 10-14 eggs, that hatch after about 23 days. The chicks are hatched fully feathered, capable of catching insects, and can fly at five days old. The chicks stay with their mother until September and are considered full grown at 16 weeks.
Dominic Sherony, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Depending on your forest type, there are different recommendations for managing for this species. This publication from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources goes in-depth on this species, and if you want to see more ruffed grouse, this can help you determine how best to manage your woodlands for them: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/privatelandhabitat/managing_woodland_ruffed_grouse_flat.pdf
In spring 2022, the Minnesota DNR ruffed grouse spring population counts showed their numbers are up, which would not be expected at this point in the 10-year cycle. However, it appears the unusually dry and hot weather in May and June 2021 would have aided in high success in the nesting and survival of chicks. In addition, snow conditions over the winter were suited to the ruffed grouse, which means snow was deeper than 10 inches and, the snow was light and powdery. None of these guarantees hunting success but it will still lend to a wonderful day outdoors hoping to flush a bird.
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