Hi Gina,

Congrats on seeing the male display! They are really beautiful birds.
Females are just as pretty especially the red rufous phase ones!

I saw females at both locations several weeks ago (Albian Hill Rd, about 2
miles from the CG and one at Togo Mt). Both not very far from your
sightings.

I have seen males display to hens in October without the wingclaps. I think
it is more for re-affirming pair bonds than for mating. On a few occasions,
I have seen males display to multiple hens at once. If you want to see the
males perform the full display including wingclapping, you must go before
dawn and in early spring around the first two weeks of May.

Take care and thanks for the wonderful post.

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)






>From: Gina Sheridan <gsherida8502 at yahoo.com>
>To: inland-nw-birders at uidaho.edu
>Subject: [inland-NW-birders]Spruce Grouse Family Affair
>Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:47:02 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Last weekend (8/3/07-8/5/07), I birded Ferry and bit
>into Okanogan Counties. Overall, the weather was quite
>pleasant and birding was productive.
>
>On Friday (8/3/05), I checked out an area in the
>Albian Hill Area. While I dipped on my targeted
>Lincoln's Sparrow, I did see DE JUNCOS, GRAY JAYS,
>HOUSE WREN (in a sedge meadow), NASHVILLE WARBLER,
>WILSON'S WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, CEDAR
>WAXWING, and a family of SONG SPARROWs.
>
>Of mammal interest, I saw a Gapper's (Boreal)
>Red-backed Vole that ran across the road. In fact,
>this vole is the primary food source for Boreal Owl,
>and I strongly suspect that these owls are in this
>area.
>
>More importantly, I found a family of SPRUCE GROUSE.
>Initially, I saw a hen sprucie perched on a rock
>campfire ring. When I exited my rig, I saw five half
>grown chicks feeding in the grouseberry ground cover.
>
>It was great fun watching the hen take a dust bath,
>and the youngsters pecking insects off foliage. While
>the chicks sometimes made barely audible high pitched
>call notes, the hen infrequently delivered some
>contented sounding, soft clucking.
>
>The hen was a beautiful red morph bird with striking
>tiger colored barring of golden brown and black. Her
>flanks were decorated with narrow white arrowhead type
>markings, and I could occasionally see a little red
>patch above her eye.
>
>After spending half an hour with this docile flock of
>half a dozen sprucies, a male Spruce Grouse came
>downslope and joined the family. Amazingly enough, the
>cock sprucie was in full display! His red eye combs
>were flared, his tail was completely fanned out, the
>white tipped spikey feathers both in front and in back
>of the main tail fan were fully deployed, and he
>briefly gave some cackling/hooting calls. When he saw
>me, he seemed a bit agitated and jerked his head left
>and right, before settling down. He followed the
>female closely and continued to exhibit mating
>behavior. Later, the entire family began to seriously
>feed and ignored me.
>
>One of the most interesting moments was when the
>entire family responded to either a robin call or a
>squirrel scold and they completely froze like statues.
>It was weird to see the male with his neck cocked, the
>hen on a log, and the youngsters in mid-pecking
>position, all completely frozen for a couple of
>minutes. Finally, one the youngsters began packing
>again and the family resumed their feeding.
>
>Admittedly, I was absolutely astonished to see a male
>Spruce Grouse displaying in early August. Surely, they
>don't have second broods, but what was going on? At
>any rate, it was a most impressive event, and I spent
>almost two hours with the family.
>
>On Saturday (8/4/07), Patricia Lott, Alan Lincoln, and
>I birded Togo Mountain a found NASHVILLE WARBLER,
>WILSON'S WARBLER, TOWNSEND'S WARBLER, CHESTNUT-BACKED
>CHICKADEE, MT. CHICKADEE, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER,
>HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, DUSKY GROUSE - 4, THREE-TOED
>WOODPECKER -3, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, RED-TAILED HAWK,
>RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, VARIED
>THRUSH, CASSIN'S VIREO, HAIRY WOODPECKER, RUFFED
>GROUSE, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and RED CROSSBILLS.
>
>
>When I made another stop for Chestnut-backed
>Chickadees (thick conifer/closed canopy on FR 450),,
>we flushed another SPRUCE GROUSE off the shoulder of
>the road. Unfortunately, we never saw any WW
>Crossbills.
>
>At Deer Creek Pass, we saw large numbers of PINE
>SISKIN and RED CROSSBILLS. Additionally, there were
>MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER, HERMIT THRUSH, SWAINSON'S
>THRUSH, WILSON'S WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER,
>HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER, GRAY JAY, STELLER'S JAY,
>CASSIN'S FINCH, and HAIRY WOODPECKER.
>
>Checking the bottom of Keller Hill in Stevens County,
>we found one BREWER'S SPARROW, but no Clay-coloreds.
>In the early afternoon, there was virtually no birds
>singing. The feeders in Barstow hosted BLACK-CHINNED
>HUMMINGBIRDs.
>
>Keller River Campground failed to deliver any migrant
>shorebirds and the water level was high. We did see
>WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH there.
>
>On Sunday (8/5/07), we slept in a bit, but Patricia
>and I did climb up Sneed Mountain (Okanogan County) to
>search for Dusky Grouse. Although we didn't see any
>grouse in the late morning, the habitat looked good
>for them. However, we did see LEWIS'S WOODPECKER,
>SWAINSON'S HAWK, RED-TAILED HAWK, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK,
>RED CROSSBILL, PINE SISKIN, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW,
>WESTERN BLUEBIRD, GRAY JAY, MT. CHICKADEE,
>RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
>(heard), CASSIN'S VIREO (heard), WESTERN WOOD PEWEE,
>YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and
>OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.
>
>On my return home, I made another stop on Albian Hill
>Road (Old Stage Trailhead), and saw two immature
>WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWs and a RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. Near
>the junction of Albian Hill Road and Deadman Creek
>Road, there was a THREE-TOED WOODPECKER drumming, and
>I had good view of a GAPPER'S RED-BACKED VOLE that
>crossed the road (south of Wapaloosie CG).
>
>It was a marvelous weekend, and I thoroughly enjoyed
>seeing a Spruce Grouse display (first time that I have
>personally witnessed this species perform), and
>spending quality time with an entire sprucie family.
>Finding my Ferry County Dusky Grouse and White-crowned
>Sparrow lifers as well as my Stevens County lifer
>Brewer's Sparrow were most welcomed too.
>
>Gina Sheridan
>Spokane, WA
>
>
>
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