Selection and Use of Drumming Sites by Male Ruffed Grouse

Regional Variation in the Nutritional Ecology of Ruffed Grouse

“…Quaking aspen flower buds are believed to be highly nutritious for ruffed grouse and great~r in nutritional quality than other buds and catkins (Gullion 1966, Gullion 1970, Svoboda and Gullion 1972. Only one crop containing sufficient aspen flower buds (species unidentified) for separate analyses was obtained in the present study.…”

“…Gullion (1970) Food habits data for nine grouse collected in April in Virg:i.nia are the only published information for the Southeast.·· These grouse primarily fed on leaves.of woody and herbaceous plants. More detailed study of the food habits of grouse in the spring season is needed.…”

Ruffed grouse-habitat preference in the central and southern Appalachians

“…Therefore, differences in habitat selection between sexes likely represent differences in habitat requirements during the breeding season. Males typically establish centers of activity immediately around drumming logs during fall or early spring (Gullion, 1967). These activity centers typically contain the highest stem densities of any area used by grouse during the year (Stauffer and Peterson, 1985;Thompson et al, 1987).…”

“…Schooley (1994) cautioned against pooling data across years because of temporal changes in habitat selection. There is evidence grouse may alter habitat preferences among years based on varying weather patterns (Berner and Gysel, 1969), mast abundance , population density (Gullion, 1967;Zimmerman et al, 2009), and habitat management. Therefore, models developed from pooled datasets should be considered long-term trends that are not representative of any single year.…”

Ruffed Grouse Selection of Drumming Sites in the Black Hills National Forest

“…for food and cover (Bump et al, 1947;Gullion and Svoboda, 1972;Kubisiak, 1985Kubisiak, , 1989. Given their status and popularity as a game bird, there has been interest by the U.S. Forest Service and South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks to assess the status of ruffed grouse in the Black Hills and develop greater knowledge of the vegetative features that influence ruffed grouse occurrence.…”