Features: Blue grouse are large in comparison to most other grouse species.
Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus), version 1.0. The ranges of Dusky Grouse and Sooty Grouse meet and overlap on the east slope of the Cascades, creating a zone of confusion between the two species. Large, dark chickenlike bird found in wooded habitats, usually with conifers and shrubby undergrowth.
... Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus), version 1.0. Instead of doing the sensible thing and working their way down in elevation when the winter decides to show its might, they flip the weather “the wing” and move uphill.
The dusky grouse is a very striking bird with beautiful plumage, although it looks very similar to another grouse species. For nearly a century, this species was known as the “Blue Grouse” along with the similar Sooty Grouse of Pacific Coast forests. Movements and Migration. Females with young seek out … When male displays, ruffles neck feathers to reveal wrinkled purple-red skin and makes deep hooting noise.
Both sexes have long, square tails which are unbarred.
The dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to the Rocky Mountains in North America. Migration Overview. Reaching ruffed grouse habitat is usually easy walking, but the habitat itself is thick and thorny. Female browner and more intricately patterned. In winter, these birds favor dense forests of conifers. Upland game are found in most habitats throughout the state, from mountains to desert. Blue Grouse: Dusky Grouse Dendragapus obscurus; Sooty Grouse Dendragapus fuliginosus; Blue grouse, an Oregon native, occupy the coniferous forests of western Oregon, the eastern slopes of the Cascades, the blue mountains of northeastern Oregon, and the Klamath Basin and south Warner Mountains. Blue grouse is a term that refers to both dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and sooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus). Dusky Grouse: This species occurs as a resident from the Yukon and Northwest Territories, through much of British Columbia, and south through the Rocky Mountains to Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Males have slate-colored upper parts, white-based neck feathers around the air sacs, and yellow-orange eye combs.
A dusky grouse female marked with a solar-powered GPS radio using a rump-style attachment. While many bird species move from higher ground in summer to lower areas in the winter (a phenomena known as altitudinal migration), the Dusky Grouse does the opposite: It moves upslope in winter and downslope in spring.
the Dusky Grouse in the Rocky Mountains. It is closely related to the sooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus), and the two were previously considered a single species, the blue grouse.
's study did not include these northern populations. The precise ranges of the two species are well-defined in the south, separated by extensive areas of unsuitable forest-free habitat, but somewhat uncertain in the north of the range of the genus where there is no separation; Barrowclough et al. Its preferred habitats include burned areas, montane forests, slashes, and subalpine forest clearings. The habitat itself is grassy meadows and open hillsides. Formerly (with Sooty Grouse) known as Blue Grouse. The other forest grouse species found in Utah, the ruffed grouse, prefer staying in a small area about 40 acres their whole life and are small, being slightly larger than a pigeon.
A large, dark grouse of western coastal forests, also living in mountain forest in the Sierras of California. Habitat in Breeding Range. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Their foraging takes them out of the forests well into surrounding grasslands, shrubsteppe habitats of bitterbrush and sagebrush, and high-elevation subalpine and alpine habitats in summer. The blue grouse is a bird shrouded in mystery. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor).
In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Seems like evolution should have snuffed out these birds long ago. Until recently, this and the Dusky Grouse were combined as one species, under the name Blue Grouse. During the breeding season, Dusky Grouse are usually found in or near mountain forests, especially those dominated by firs, ponderosa pine, quaking aspen, and Douglas-fir. Habitat. Dusky Grouse is locally fairly common in all three of these areas in suitable habitat, mostly at middle elevations but extending up to tree line in the subalpine zone in some localities. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Timing and Routes of Migration.
Until 2006, the dusky grouse and sooty grouse were both called the blue grouse, but they are now recognized as two separate species (Washington Department of … All distribution maps presented below are approximations based on habitat data, historic records, and reported observations.