Our Ruffed Grouse Neighbors
“What’s the bird with the spike on its head?”
The sight of a ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) alongside a gravel road is such a common sight on the Gunflint Trail that residents sometimes forget that for visitors, it’s not every day that you see chicken-sized birds running all over the place.
All season long, a ruffed grouse family has been on the loose on the Chik-Wauk grounds. They’ve grown up from little chicks into small adults who are often seen strutting across the driveway when you turn into Chik-Wauk. This ubiquitous fowl can be disarmingly friendly — the one in the picture up crept right up to the Chik-Wauk volunteer taking the picture– but more often than not, an encounter with a grouse is nothing more than the flapping rumble of wings and flash of tail feathers as the bird escapes to the forest’s cover.
The grouse population, which is estimated based on the number of “drums” (when males flap their wings to attract a mate) heard in the spring, works in 10 year cycles. The population peaked last year, but there are still plenty of grouse to be seen this autumn. Even in the lowest population years, Minnesota is considered the best ruffed grouse state in the U.S.
Ruffed grouse are associated with aspen trees. Young aspen groves protect grouse from their predators: owls and groshawks. Aspen, which is notorious for taking off in forest areas that have been clear cut or disturbances, has been prevalent along the Gunflint Trail following the 1999 blowdown storm and the wildfires which followed.
You might also run into a spruce grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) while out on the back roads near the Gunflint Trail. This bird, who breeds in the Boreal Forest, is of similar size as the ruffed grouse but slightly less common than its ruffed cousin. You can tell it apart, the males at least, but the red streak above their eye.