Spruce Grouse
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, 2012Male (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, 2017Female
Eats primarily pine and spruce needles in the canopy, but also forages on the ground for insects, fresh growth on shrubs, and berries.
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, 2016Male
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, 2011Female
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