The grouse of North America

A grouse is a chicken-like upland game bird in the family Phasianidae, built for life on the ground in forests, prairies, and tundra. North America holds about a dozen species, including the ruffed grouse of the eastern and northern forests, the sharp-tailed grouse of the prairies, and the ptarmigan of the alpine tundra. Most are legal game birds with fall hunting seasons.

A grouse looks like a compact, heavy-bodied wild chicken with mottled brown, gray, or black feathers that blend into cover. Most species weigh between one and seven pounds, with feathered legs, a short curved bill, and a fan-shaped tail. Plumage varies by species and region, from the barred brown of a ruffed grouse to the pure winter white of a ptarmigan.

Yes, grouse fly hard and fast in short bursts, though they spend most of their lives on the ground. A flushing grouse explodes from cover with a thunder of wingbeats and can hit 20 miles per hour or more within seconds. They are sprinters, not travelers, and usually fly less than a few hundred yards before setting back down.

North America has roughly a dozen grouse species, and hunters group them by the country they live in. The forest birds are ruffed, spruce, dusky, and sooty grouse. The prairie birds are sharp-tailed grouse and the prairie-chickens. Sage country holds the greater sage-grouse, and the alpine and arctic country holds three ptarmigan species.

The ruffed grouse is the most hunted grouse in America by a wide margin. It lives across more than 30 states, and Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan alone account for hundreds of thousands of harvested birds in a good year of the population cycle. Its explosive flush and thick-cover habits make it the classic upland challenge.