Meet Bonasa umbellus - the ruffed grouse.
There's a first for everything and this is the first time
I've captured a photo of one of these on a trail camera.
Coincidentally, last week I roughed-out (pun intended) a trail from the
house to the north property line and I spotted one of these ahead of me. The dang bird wasn't the least bit concerned
about the man driving the big, blue clattering diesel tractor with a clanking
brush mower. It walked out of the way at
its own leisurely pace.
So that
would be two birds (or the same bird twice) in one week. Odd that I haven't heard any drumming this
spring.
In any event, this non-migrating
woodland bird is not uncommon here on the peninsula. Like woodcock it prefers young forest habitat
and the aspen patch cuts we've performed over the years and the thickets of
spruce are where it generally makes its home.
Surveys suggest that in the Great Lakes states there's approximately a
10-year population cycle for this bird. Grouse numbers typically arise in years that end in
zero with the lowest numbers concentrated in years ending in five.
The suppression of logging in the northernmost regions of Wisconsin have caused a decline in grouse habitat - negatively impacting grouse populations. And West Nile
Virus is a concern as this species is threatened by the mosquito-transmitted
disease. Seasonal hunting frameworks are designed to be sensitive to sustainable populations of grouse.
About the drumming – the
spring courtship ritual involves the male positioning himself on a preferred
log, raising the feathers on his head, fanning his tail (like a turkey gobbler) and
make a drumming sound with cupped wing beats.
It sounds remarkably like an outboard motor starting-up.
This is a ground-nesting species and is
why the dogs are kept on a lead during our daily walks for the duration of the primary
nesting season. Seeing more of them is encouraging.
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