Grouse are sometimes called the "chicken of the woods" because of their similarity in size and shape to chickens. However unlike our barnyard friends, they can startle you if you happen close to one of these birds because they have a habit of waiting until the last second before abruptly bolting off the ground in flight. This behavior, designed to surprise predators, is just one of the things to look for when trying to identify a grouse.
Instructions
1. Head for the woodlands and forests and look for tracks. Grouse generally prefer walking to flying so you can sometimes find one just by following its footprints. Similar to many other birds, grouse leave a three pronged footprint.
2. Identify a Ruffed Grouse by looking at its tail. Like many other species, the head, neck and back are grayish brown and they have a light colored breast. They also have a crest on top of their head, though it sometimes lays flat. But unlike other grouse, they have a long square brownish tail that has a black band near the end.
3. Search the northwestern United States and Canada to identify a Spruce Grouse. Adults have a long square black tail with brown at the end. The males are mainly gray with a black breast that has white stripes. They also have a black throat and a distinct red spot over the eyes. Females are mottled brown but have a similar dark breast with white stripes.
4. Find the Sage Grouse, the largest of the North American grouse species, in the sagebrush country of the western United States. Adults have a long pointed tail and their unusual legs have feathers all the way to the toes. Adult males have a yellow spot over the eyes and are gray on top with a white breast and dark black belly. Their throat is dark brown with two yellow sacs on the neck that they inflate during courtship.
5. Track a Sharp Tailed Grouse in the northern United States from the hills of South Dakota to the northern peninsula of Michigan. They have a short tail with two central square tipped feathers that are longer than the lighter outer tail feathers, hence the name. They are a mottled brown and white color with a white belly that is covered in "V" shaped brown marks. Both males and females have a yellow comb over their eyes and a violet patch on their neck, though the females comb is less obvious and colors less vibrant than her male counterpart.
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