Ruffed Grouse - from my archives

Not a very well composed image, but I tried to get the closest possible shot of this bird who was in a hurry : ) I saw this beautiful, female Ruffed Grouse NW of Calgary on 28 March 2013. At least, I'm assuming it is a female, though apparently both genders are similarly marked and sized, making them difficult to tell apart. It was the icing on the cake after seeing four Great Gray Owls, an American Robin, and my first Mountain Bluebird of the year (no photos). As always, it's all about timing - you can drive this road many times and there's no sign of any Grouse. My experience has been that these birds tend to freeze right there in the middle of the road. I got out of my car and slowly walked towards it and stood there, taking a number of shots. Then the bird eventually started hurrying to the other side. Love their feather patterns.

"The ruffs are on the sides of the neck in both genders. They also have a crest on top of their head, which sometimes lies flat. Both genders are similarly marked and sized, making them difficult to tell apart, even in hand. The female often has a broken subterminal tail band, while males tend to have unbroken tail bands, though the opposite of either can occur. Females may also do a display similar to the male. Another fairly accurate sign is that rump feathers with a single white dot indicate a female; rump feathers with more than one white dot indicate a male." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_Grouse

"The toes of Ruffed Grouse grow projections off their sides in winter, making them look like combs. The projections are believed to act as snowshoes to help the grouse walk across snow." From AllAboutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruffed_grouse/id