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Spruce Grouse

  • Spruce Grouse Male
    Male

    Medium-sized chickenlike bird. Males have a slate gray head and neck, a red eyebrow, a black chest, and white spots on lower belly.

    © Luke Seitz | Macaulay LibraryMaine, May 21, 2012
  • Spruce Grouse Male (Franklin's)
    Male (Franklin's)

    The Franklin's subspecies of Spruce Grouse in Montana, Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia have a darker black breast without white barring.

    © Alex Lamoreaux | Macaulay LibraryIdaho, August 17, 2017
  • Female

    Eats primarily pine and spruce needles in the canopy, but also forages on the ground for insects, fresh growth on shrubs, and berries.

    © Eric Liner | Macaulay LibraryAlaska, July 03, 2007Not all videos have sound
  • Spruce Grouse Female
    Female

    Plump bird of spruce forests. Females come in two color morphs, gray and chestnut. This female has chestnut mottling throughout with strong horizontal barring on the underparts.

    © Amanda Guercio | Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, June 03, 2016
  • Spruce Grouse Male
    Male

    Males have a slate gray head and neck, a red eyebrow, a black chest, and white spots on lower belly. The tail is either dark or tipped in chestnut depending on location. This individual from Maine has chestnut tips.

    © Luke Seitz | Macaulay LibraryMaine, May 09, 2011
  • Spruce Grouse Female
    Female

    Feeds primarily on needles from spruce and pines, but when not eating needles they forage on the ground, eating fresh growth from shrubs and understory plants.

    © Brian Sullivan | Macaulay LibraryAlaska, May 20, 2012