Ruffed Grouse mating dance! | Togwotee Mountain Lodge

Cue the drum solo! 🥁 March marks the beginning of the ruffed grouse mating season. The male grouse will take center stage — a fallen log will do — and attract a female by preforming an epic drum solo. With his tail fanned, the male delivers this display by beating his wings in rapid motions. The rush of air created by his wingbeats sounds much like drumming. The drumming starts slowly and increases in speed, until the individual thudding beats merge into a fast, steady pace. I can hear it drumm

Have you ever seen or heard the Ruffed Grouse's haunting air drumming? How the birds produce their unusual thrumming was a long-time mystery, until wildlife cinematography got involved: http://ow.ly/9As830kXLrn | National Audubon Society

Sound on to hear the drumming 🔊 This is the breeding display of the ruffed grouse, the analogue to sage-grouse strutting or sharp-tailed grouse dancing. They are similar to dusky grouse in that they are not in a concentrated lek, but instead form territories. Ruffed grouse will generally find a downed log, their drumming log, and use it to drum on much like a stage. They are not actually hitting the log. But it can sound a little like it if you hear them in person. The sound is just from moving

Meet the ruffed grouse! Ruffed grouse are the most widely distributed resident game bird in North America, found in 39 U.S. States and all Canadian provinces. In the Eastern U.S., their range extends from Maine down to the North Georgia mountains where they are found in high elevations and have a long history and importance to the hunters in the Blue Ridge region. These ground-nesting birds are slightly larger than a pigeon and will typically only fly short distances to safety after being flushe