With their colored patterns of browns, grays, and blacks, the Ruffed Grouse blends in nicely with its wooded surroundings. The chicken-like bird uses its camouflage very effectively, by standing very still. A person probably would not see the bird unless it moved. That was the case the other day when I was walking around the pond. Had the grouse stood still and not moved, I wouldn’t have noticed it, but as I ambled unaware, closer, down the path, it started to quickly walk away.
Grouse always seem so vulnerable. They spend most of their time scratching around in the leaf litter on the forest floor, and their brownish coloration doesn’t help them much in the winter, so I am always happy to see the ones that have survived through the winter.
I suspect this one is a male, with his spread-out fan-like tail. Later in the spring, we hear the males making a drum-like rhythm as they stand on a fallen log, trying to attract a female for mating.
View my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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