- Dendragapus obscurus
Identification
42cm. Mottled brown, chicken-like birds with a dark tail.
Males: have a yellow comb above the eye that can be raised during displays, and black-tipped white feathers on the neck that cover reddish patches of bare skin, which are inflatable during displays. Grey band on tail
Females: are mottled brown above and mottled gray below. Brown tail with grey band.
Northern populations of Dusky Grouse (Nevada-Idaho border north) lack the blue-gray tail band seen in Sooty Grouse, but Dusky Grouse in the southern part of the species range (Nevada, Utah, southward) do have the tail band.
Distribution
Western Canada and western states of the USA in mountainous regions.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Four subspecies accepted:
- D. o. richardsonii: Alaska and southern Yukon to Idaho, western Montana and north-western Wyoming
- D. o. pallidus: South-central British Columbia to eastern Washington and north-eastern Oregon
- D. o. oreinus: Mountains of north-eastern Nevada and adjacent Utah
- D. o. obscurus: Mountains of Wyoming to Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico
Was until 2006 considered conspecific with Sooty Grouse under the name Blue Grouse.
Habitat
Conifer and mixed forests, shrub, desert, tundra, up to 3,600m. Not found in arid regions or plains.
Behaviour
Nonmigratory, but they move in elevation with the seasons, spending the summers in mixed deciduous forests and winter in conifers at higher elevations.
Relatively tame, they often allow close approach before walking or running into thickets.
Breeding
The male inflates its colorful air sac during courtship to produce owl-like hoots that can be heard at considerable distance.
They nest in a ground scrape. Incubation is 25-26 days by the female.
Diet
Includes berries, tree buds, twigs, leaves, seed, and insects. In winter the diet includes conifer needles.
References
- 47th Supplement to the AOU Checklist
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Dusky Grouse. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Dusky_Grouse
