Listening to ruffed grouse in North Dakota

BISMARCK — There a 4 grouse species in North Dakota, and three of them — sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse and larger prairie chickens — are in attendance on leks or dancing grounds this time of 12 months as a part of their annual mating rituals. The fourth, and the one forest grouse, is doing likewise within the aspen forest on the state’s northern tier.

On this week’s phase of North Dakota Open air, Mike Anderson exhibits us a novel grouse species displaying within the Aspen Forests in North Dakota.

“And what the ruff grouse do is often pick a lifeless log, their forest grouse so that they’re particular to aspen forests, which in North Dakota which means the Pembina Gorge and the Turtle Mountains,” says Jesse Kolar, an upland recreation biologist with the North Dakota Sport and Fish Division. “And people ruffed grouse will stroll up and down that log. They get to a spot the place they’ll sit and so they can beat their wings on their breast. And that sound makes an echo that reverberates via forests.”

When male ruffed grouse beat their wings in opposition to their chest it appears like an previous tractor making an attempt to get began. They may come again morning after morning to show and attempt to appeal to a feminine from the top of March to the center of June.

“They’re going to have multiple drumming website, however they’re habituated to 1 or two main drumming logs,” Kolar says. “The log itself ultimately even will get wore down and you may see the spots the place they have been pacing backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards.”

When ruffed grouse are displaying, they’re not going to be straightforward to find like different grouse species on leks or dancing grounds on the prairies.

“They’ll be in thick forest,” Kolar says “They often choose, it is a down log, however it is going to be in an space that is surrounded by cowl, so properly protected. You might be 30 ft from these grouse and never see them. So loads of instances you may hear that sound.”

Final 12 months ruffed grouse numbers had been down within the Turtle Mountains and had been up or about common within the Pembina Hills.