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Relying the place you reside, the time period “grouse” can confer with completely different birds.
Ruffed
Probably the most widespread, ruffed grouse could be discovered all over the place however essentially the most northern reaches of Ontario. Named for the ruff of darker feathers across the chook’s neck, this characteristic is extra noticeable in males after they puff out these feathers whereas making an attempt to draw a mate or defending territory.
A darkish band close to the bottom of the tail is one other distinctive identifier for ruffies, which weigh about 1 to 1.5 kilos. Each sexes have a crest on prime of their head. The drumming of male grouse is a welcome signal of spring throughout the chook’s vary. The acquainted staccato sound is created by air filling the vacuum created by the chook’s quickly beating wings.
Ruffed grouse like deciduous forest in numerous phases however spend rather a lot of their lives in early successional forest. This younger progress is often related to denser cowl with increased stem counts. The lack of early successional forest is likely one of the main threats going through grouse in southern components of the province.
One thing distinctive about ruffed grouse is that these birds, which are sometimes hunted with flushing and pointing canines, are a cautious goal exploding out of canopy within the south. Within the north, nonetheless, they’re simply approached and often known as idiot hens.
Ruffed grouse populations are cyclic within the northern a part of the province, and decrease in the south, in response to the Ministry of Pure Sources and Forestry (MNRF).
“Populations of those species are tough to monitor over massive spatial scales, notably in comparatively inaccessible components of northern Ontario,” MNRF Senior Wildlife Biologist and Coverage Advisor Patrick Hubert mentioned.
Spruce
The spruce grouse is present in coniferous forests, roughly north of a line from the east of Georgian Bay to the Quebec border.
The spruce grouse is analogous in dimension to the ruffed. It’s darker in color and has a crimson comb above the attention. The spruce grouse is much more tolerant of people and it’s frequent for individuals to have the ability to stroll as much as them. Because of this the chook is often known as a idiot hen.
Because of a robust style of juniper berries and its darker meat, spruce grouse is taken into account the least fascinating desk fare.
Sharp-tailed
The most important of Ontario’s grouse could be discovered within the northwest and the James Bay space.
The sharp-tailed seems to be much like the ruffed with a crest on the pinnacle and variegated brown colors. As an alternative of getting a rounded tail, nonetheless, its tail involves a level, with out the darkish band. The sharp- tailed is white on the underside. Sharp-tailed grouse sometimes weigh 1.3 to 1.9 kilos. Male sharp-tailed grouse have a yellow patch over the attention and a purple patch on the neck.
A chook of extra open areas, the sharp-tailed grouse is usually present in cowl with a combination of grasslands and bushes, in forestry clear cuts or just lately burned areas of a coniferous forests.
Sharp-tailed grouse are identified for his or her distinctive mating dance in leks, or courtship areas, the place single or a number of males will carry out a mating dance.
Initially revealed within the Nov.-Dec. 2022 challenge of Ontario OUT of DOORS
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