Behavioral differences of spruce, ruffed grouse

Spruce grouse can be hard to find. Out-of-state birders come to Maine to add the spruce grouse to their “life list.” They go to Schoodic Point, Great Wass Island or Quoddy Head State Park to seek their spruce grouse.

Spruce grouse are sometimes found in the Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge in Milford near Old Town, in the Orono Bog and the Hermon Bog. But you also can take a long walk in any of those places and not find a single spruce grouse. Spruce grouse are often the nemesis of out-of-state birders.

That’s why it was an unusual event when Paul Pasquine spotted a spruce grouse in Bangor.

He found it in the Bangor Forest, near the Orono Bog Boardwalk. He took photos to document his find. He was able to get quite close to the grouse. The photo clearly showed the fine brown barring on the bird’s breast and its reddish eyebrows. There was no doubt that it was a spruce grouse.

It was a young male, dispersing from the ring of spruce around the Orono Bog. Young males must disperse to find their own territory.

Next May, if he survives the many dangers he will encounter, and if he finds good spruce habitat, he will display to attract females. His adult plumage will be mostly black and gray, accented with bright red eyebrows. Doubtless he will be attractive to females – what could be more handsome than that?

In another part of Bangor, in the Bangor Land Trust’s Walden Parke, two people were walking in the forest along the historic train line. They saw a pair of grouse on the edge of the train line. These birds were in the shade and looked quite dark. The two grouse ran across the train line and disappeared.

The couple thought they could be spruce grouse. They were not sure, nor was I, but I told them that the behavior was that of ruffed grouse, which are very flighty. It’s usually hard to get close to a ruffed grouse, except a female with young. (She will charge you – but that’s another column.)

However, when you are lucky enough to come upon a spruce grouse, it usually just stands still. Perhaps that strategy works best in the dense, dark spruce forest.

For information on Fields Pond Audubon Center, call 989-2591.