Dusky Grouse

About the Dusky Grouse

The dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is closely related to the sooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus), and the two were previously considered a single species, the blue grouse.

Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a purplish throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow to red wattle over the eye during display. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.

Males are larger than females, with a male mean body mass of 1.21 kg (2.67 lbs.) compared to a mean 0.91 kg (2.01 lbs.) in females. The breeding habitat of the dusky grouse is the edges of conifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions of western North America, from southeastern Alaska and Yukon south to New Mexico. Their range is closely associated with that of various conifers. Their nest is a scrape on the ground concealed under a shrub or log.

The dusky grouse has four recognized subspecies: D. o. obscurus (Say, 1822) D. o. oreinus (Behle & Selander, 1951) D. o. pallidus (Swarth, 1931... Wikipedia →