Ruffed Grouse (Common Grouse, Partridge)

The Ruffed Grouse is a medium-sized forest-dwelling gallinaceous bird famous for the male's dramatic drumming display during spring. Adults feature a mottled camouflage plumage of gray or brown, a crest on the head, and prominent black neck ruffs that can be flared. They are notoriously secretive, often bursting into explosive flight from underfoot when startled.

Intricately patterned with earthy tones including warm brown, grayish-white, and dark brown barring, featuring a stark dark subterminal band near the rounded tip

Pennaceous upper vane with tightly interlocked barbs transitioning sharply into a fluffy, plumulaceous (downy) base with no hooklets, featuring a distinct afterfeather (aftershaft)

Soft and silky at the base with a slightly stiffer, matte pennaceous tip

Distinctive combination of finely barred earth-toned pennaceous tips and a large, fluffy plumulaceous basal tuft with an aftershaft, typical of gallinaceous body feathers

Deciduous and mixed forests with dense undergrowth, brushy areas, and regenerating clearcuts, particularly favoring areas with aspen, birch, and conifer mixtures

Resident across forested regions of North America, stretching from Alaska and Canada down through the northern United States and into Appalachian mountain ranges

Serves as an important prey species for various forest raptors and mammalian carnivores, and acts as an ecological indicator of healthy, regenerating early-successional forest habitats

Spruce Grouse and Dusky Grouse, which can be distinguished by different geographical ranges and distinct coloration and barring patterns on their body feathers

Ruffed Grouse are renowned for their territorial drumming display, a sound produced by beating their wings rapidly against the air to create a low-frequency concussive boom that resembles a starting engine

Good condition with intact barbs, minor natural wear at the very tip, and no significant parasitic damage or fading