I live in CO & hunt to eat! Dusky grouse are found in the fall in high meadows, usually in places immediately adjacent to thick woods that provide cover. Dendrogapus fulginosus ... Beautiful Talkative blue and gold macaw parrots for good homes have a good vocabulary, excellent at voice commands and a. During summer and fall the Blue Grouse enjoy the highland meadows at the edges of confer and mixed forests where they can be concealed under shrubs or a log. Dusky Grouse are numerous but inconspicuous for most of the year. However, in the first three weeks after hatching, chicks cannot digest sagebrush, and forbs and various insects (beetles, grasshoppers, and ants, especially) make up the bulk of the juvenile diet. Habitat of the Grouse These birds offer the wing shooter plenty of excitement, and, also, excellent table fare after a good day’s hunt. In the spring, dusky grouse leave the high country and move to their breeding grounds. The dusky to bluish gray of male and the mottled brown of females blend perfectly into the branches of weathered fallen logs where grouse roost at midday. Short of having a heart attack, there is little more exciting than chasing Dusky grouse deep in the mountains while the aspens are showing off their colors. After Ruffed grouse, ptarmigan are my favorite to eat (the famed Red Grouse of Scotland are simply a sub-species of … I normally see pretty good numbers of grouse every year, and saw a bunch of them this year but haven't pulled the trigger on one yet because I keep hearing they're no good to eat. Needle-eating Grouse. roseate spoonbill - platalea ajaja | by amaw See more. Dusky grouse are considered forest grouse, but during different times of the year they utilize distinctly different habitat types. Grouse tastes much akin to pheasant, and does have some similar "chicken flavor," but is not nearly as bland as chicken and has a different texture. If you have a small game hunting license, then you can hunt grouse with a 22 rifle. They have a wide distribution, and their population numbers are holding their own for the last few decades. Immature males look a lot like the females. Had quite a few in range this year & my trigger finger sure was itching after walking all day & no pheasants. Although considered a non-migratory species, the Dusky Grouse does use different habitats at different times of the year. Unhunted blue grouse and sometimes ruffed grouse act just as dumb especially high in the mountains. They were later combined into one species called the “blue grouse” in the 1900s. To find them, hike through a mountain forest with fairly open understory. Scientific Classification Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Order Galliformes Family Phasianidae Subfamily Tetraoninae Genus Dendragapus Scientific Name Dendragapus obscurus Quick Information Also … Dusky Grouse. ... chokecherries and huckleberries to eat. Both sexes have dark tail feathers, which on sooty grouse are tipped with a white band that is missing or faint on dusky grouse. Mountain grouse, which includes ruffed, spruce and dusky (or blue) grouse, are fun to hunt and good to eat. In summer, they feed on insects, green plants and berries. Sooty grouse usually have 18 tail feathers to the dusky grouse’s 20, but apparently the number of tail feathers can vary between 15 and 22. These birds also have bright orange “eyebrow” feathers to add to the ensemble. The dusky grouse and the sooty grouse were first identified separately by Lewis and Clark in the 1800s. Almost everyone that I know still just calls them all Blues. Big, explosive and oftentimes erratic, these birds have hands down become my favorite game animals to … The mountain ranges in the southern and southwestern part of this state also have viable populations. ... is derived from the food that they eat, shrimp. Schwartz says dusky grouse hang along meadow edges “close enough to the grass to find hoppers, but also close enough to trees for escape cover. The dusky grouse is a year round resident. Dusky Grouse – Like all of the aforementioned species, male dusky grouses are the more impressive sex in terms of color and plumage (feathers). For this reason, your best chance to see them comes in early spring, when displaying males become both conspicuous and quite fearless, often easily approached. Grouse have pretty much the same proportion of white / dark meat as chickens do, but they don't taste like chicken. After Ruffed grouse, ptarmigan are my favorite to eat (the famed Red Grouse of Scotland are simply a sub-species of … As winter approaches, this bird will move upslope to eat conifer needles and roost under the snow.