Sharp-tailed Grouse

[popeshawnpaul]

Got a chance to see and photograph endangered WA Sharp-tailed Grouse a week ago.  Great experience.  I hope we can save these birds!

[rtspring]

Awesome pics Pope.....

[bobcat]

Great photos! Is that in Okanogan County?

[B-Nut]

Amazing photos! Thanks for sharing them. 

[popeshawnpaul]

Great photos! Is that in Okanogan County?

And Lincoln County.

[viva_che1363]

are there any of these on the west side? i saw a similar looking bird the other week with yellow orange eye combs out around sultan. i didnt get a look at its tail as it was sitting.

[bobcat]

are there any of these on the west side?

No, not the right habitat.

[popeshawnpaul]

are there any of these on the west side? i saw a similar looking bird the other week with yellow orange eye combs out around sultan. i didnt get a look at its tail as it was sitting.

Sounds like a sooty grouse.

[Boss .300 winmag]

are there any of these on the west side? i saw a similar looking bird the other week with yellow orange eye combs out around sultan. i didnt get a look at its tail as it was sitting.

Sounds like a sooty grouse.

Learn smoothing new everyday! 

Sooty Grouse

Male Sooty Grouse displaying
Scientific classification
Kingdom:   Animalia
Phylum:   Chordata
Class:   Aves
Order:   Galliformes
Family:   Phasianidae
Subfamily:   Tetraoninae
Genus:   Dendragapus
Species:   D. fuliginosus
Binomial name
Dendragapus fuliginosus
(Ridgway, 1873)
The Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus) is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to North America's Pacific Coast Ranges.[1][2] It is closely related to the Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus), and the two were previously considered a single species, the Blue Grouse.[1][2][3]


Sooty Grouse female
Adults have a long square tail, light gray at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a yellow throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow wattle over the eye during display. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.[2]
Their breeding habitat is the edges of conifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions of western North America, from southeastern Alaska and Yukon south to California.[2] Their range is closely associated with that of various conifers. The nest is a scrape on the ground concealed under a shrub or log.


Sooty Grouse male and female
They are permanent residents but move short distances by foot and short flights to denser forest areas in winter, with the odd habit of moving to higher altitudes in winter.[1]
These birds forage on the ground, or in trees in winter. In winter, they mainly eat fir and douglas-fir needles, occasionally also hemlock and pine needles; in summer, other green plants (Pteridium, Salix), berries (Gaultheria, Mahonia, Rubus, Vaccinium), and insects (particularly ants, beetles, grasshoppers) are more important. Chicks are almost entirely dependent on insect food for their first ten days.[1]
Males sing with deep hoots on their territory and make short flapping flights to attract females. Females leave the male's territory after mating.

[bobcat]

The "Sooty" grouse is not new. Just a new name for an old bird: the blue grouse.

[Curly]

Really cool pics.    Thanks for sharing.

[Boss .300 winmag]

 

Really cool pics.    Thanks for sharing.

 

[viva_che1363]

thanks for in info guys. i didnt want to hijack the thread. beautiful photos. i just didn't want to go shoot a grouse and have it wind up being endangered.

[popeshawnpaul]

thanks for in info guys. i didnt want to hijack the thread. beautiful photos. i just didn't want to go shoot a grouse and have it wind up being endangered.

No problem.  I think this is the grouse you saw.  Blue grouse were split a few years ago.  Ones on the westside are sooty grouse and have yellow eyebrows and air sacks.  Dusky grouse are eastside and have red eye and air sacks.  There is some variation but these are general guidelines.

[Alchase]

Wow, that' is an awesome photo!

If you do not mind me asking what did you shoot that with?