We enjoy watching ruffed grouse feed on the vegetation around our home. Ruffed grouse spend most of their adult life alone. They occasionally form small temporary groups during fall and winter to utilize good feeding spots. This week we had about a half dozen feeding under our pines. 

Ruffed grouse seem to like to walk more than fly and their feet act like natural snowshoes. In the fall, they grow fleshy projections on their toes that double their surface area. The fleshy projections and their feathers, both allow them to navigate deep snow without sinking. By spring the fleshy projections wear off.

It is when the males puff up their ruff and spread their tail feathers that the ruffed grouse really reveals its beauty. You can tell it is getting close to breeding season when you see them displaying for the females.

Paul Sundberg