Subject: [Tweeters] new Ruffed Grouse?
Date: Oct 28 14:34:18 2006
From: birdbooker at zipcon.net - birdbooker at zipcon.net


HI:
Got the e-mail below from a friend of Don Kroodsma and I thought it might be of interest:
I just realized that I could pester you for a possible answer to a burning question that I have. Have you ever listened to ruffed grouse drumming out your way? I am convinced that your grouse is a very different grouse from grouse across the continent to the Atlantic.
If you're curious, go to the Cornell Library of Natural Sounds website (given below) and type in 'ruffed grouse' into the search box, and listen to the ruffed grouse drums that are available on line. http://www.animalbehaviorarchive.org/assetSearchQuickPublic.do;jsessionid=327C921D34A849C8C64879389BB2616E

Listen to the British Columbia recording (LNS catalog # 59280); that's how your grouse should sound. And then listen to how different that grouse is from the recordings from the rest of the continent (e.g., 2384, 48906, 48906, 49058, 2379, 2378, 59274, 59277, 2383). Hear how the BC grouse begins drumming slowly and then RUSHES up to the high point, then comes down, whereas grouse elsewhere gradually rise to the high point and then gradually come down. It is quite striking when you graph out what they are doing. It is possible that the one British Columbia recording is an odd grouse, but I bet not. It wouldn't surprise me if your grouse are sufficiently different to warrant species status. Pretty brash statement, though, based on listening to just one grouse online!
Best regards . . . Don Kroodsma

--
Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA USA
A.K.A.:Birdbooker
\"Rallidae all the way!\"