Ruffed Grouse--Might Be Gross For Some
Warning: The photos in this post are of a dead ruffed grouse and might be a tad gross for some sensitive readers or those eating while surfing the net.
We're having a great grouse year in Minnesota. Is it better habitat or just part of the normal grouse cycle or a little of both? I'm not sure, but grouse hunters seemed to be pleased this year. Normally I only hear grouse drumming or when I do see them they are flying away or look like this:
A bird hidden in a thicket of branches. It's not often I get an up close view. To give you an idea of what grouse look like, here's a Bill Schmoker photo of a ruffed grouse.
The other day in Duluth, I found this pile of fluff right next to my car in the grass (I was on a gravel road). At first glance it looked like some odd plant matter blowing in the breeze. I picked it up and realized they were the soft feathers of a grouse. I few feet away I found the head, spine, legs, feet and crop--all still attached.
It was a fairly clean carcass with no visible shredding, so my guess is that the grouse taken by a hunter and was dressed in the field. I saw someone down the road bow hunting, it could have been him. So, I took the opportunity to study what was left in hand. Note the tiny red feathers just above the eye.
I decided to open it and see what was in there. I had no idea ruffed grouse ate so much plant material. Larry calls this "salad". Anyone care to try an id the seeds or the leaf matter?
Who knew grouse parts could be so interesting?
We're having a great grouse year in Minnesota. Is it better habitat or just part of the normal grouse cycle or a little of both? I'm not sure, but grouse hunters seemed to be pleased this year. Normally I only hear grouse drumming or when I do see them they are flying away or look like this:
The other day in Duluth, I found this pile of fluff right next to my car in the grass (I was on a gravel road). At first glance it looked like some odd plant matter blowing in the breeze. I picked it up and realized they were the soft feathers of a grouse. I few feet away I found the head, spine, legs, feet and crop--all still attached.
It was a fairly clean carcass with no visible shredding, so my guess is that the grouse taken by a hunter and was dressed in the field. I saw someone down the road bow hunting, it could have been him. So, I took the opportunity to study what was left in hand. Note the tiny red feathers just above the eye.
The tail had a broken band, so I think this was a female.
I was really fascinated by the feet. Look at that bristling on each toe. I was talking to Larry about this and he said that those are to help the grouse walk on top of the snow.
Here is the crop. This is kind of a holding area many birds have to store and soften food (a full crop is what gives some raptors a "Dolly Parton" appearance). It was see through and very full. Look at all those seeds, and what I thought was really interesting was what looked like plant materials.
Here is the crop. This is kind of a holding area many birds have to store and soften food (a full crop is what gives some raptors a "Dolly Parton" appearance). It was see through and very full. Look at all those seeds, and what I thought was really interesting was what looked like plant materials.
I decided to open it and see what was in there. I had no idea ruffed grouse ate so much plant material. Larry calls this "salad". Anyone care to try an id the seeds or the leaf matter?
Who knew grouse parts could be so interesting?
posted by birdchick at 4:53 PM
5 Comments:
There is some salad in the crop - It is the green stuff. There are also some buds that can be seen - probably aspen or willow. The buds that they eat are next year's leaf buds or next year's flowers. I usually don't see them eating these buds until the snow covers the salad.
Also I think the bird is a male. Note the rump feathers. One white spot on the rump feathers is a female - More than one is a male. Also the tail feathers of a male are longer.
I took another look and the green stuff looks like aspen leaves not the typical ground salad. They eat these sometimes too - but only whey they are green.
I'm not even going to attempt to ID "crop salad".
But the post wasn't too gross. (You've done worse!) But I was almost afraid to look at the opened crop, because I thought you were going to say that the salad was actually a mass of maggots.
Those feet are so interesting. I didn't know grouse had feet with little tiny snowshoe nubbies.
Hey, Larry, the eye looks like it has some tiny red feathers, does that also indicate male?
Dear Sharon,
I love this post. I'm right there opening the crop with you, girl! I once opened a nighthawk crop and found it full of June bugs! Ow! (it was a roadkill, of course).
Are you sure that wasn't red skin above the eye? In my experience grouse and pheasants are big on bare skin around the eye, richly supplied with blood vessels, but not red feathers.
the blue nails are a nice touch.
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