The sooty grouse is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to North America's Pacific Coast Ranges. It is closely related to the dusky grouse, and the two were previously considered a single species, the blue grouse.
Region
Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America
Typical Environment
Found from southeastern Alaska through British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest to the Sierra Nevada and coastal ranges of California. It favors mature to mixed-age coniferous forests, including hemlock, fir, spruce, pine, and Douglas-fir. In winter it occupies dense canopy forests where it feeds in trees; in spring and summer it uses forest edges, openings, and subalpine meadows. It often occurs near ridgelines and slopes with a mosaic of cover and openings.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 3300 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The sooty grouse inhabits coniferous forests along the Pacific Coast Ranges and was formerly lumped with the dusky grouse as the blue grouse complex. Males give a series of low, far-carrying hoots from high perches during the breeding season. Many populations make seasonal altitudinal movements, wintering higher in dense conifers and moving downslope in spring. In winter they can subsist largely on conifer needles, aided by a specialized digestive system.
Sooty grouse male and female
Temperament
solitary and wary
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief glides
Social Behavior
Outside the breeding season they are generally solitary or in small loose groups, especially hens with broods. Males hold dispersed display sites rather than dense leks, hooting from trees to attract females. Nests are shallow ground scrapes concealed under shrubs or logs, where the female incubates and tends the brood.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
The male’s display consists of a series of deep, muffled hoots spaced several seconds apart, carrying long distances through forest. Soft clucks and clucks-whirrs are used at close range, with chicks giving high, thin peeps.
Plumage
Males are dark sooty-gray to brown with fine mottling and a broad pale terminal band on the tail; females are heavily mottled and barred brown with cryptic patterning. Males show inflatable neck sacs bordered by white feathers during display and a conspicuous colored comb over the eye.
Diet
In winter it consumes mainly conifer needles from firs, hemlocks, pines, and Douglas-firs, processed by an enlarged caecum. In spring it adds buds, catkins, and emerging leaves. Summer diets broaden to include berries, flowers, and herbaceous plants, with chicks and hens taking insects and other invertebrates for protein. Opportunistic foraging on seeds and fallen fruits occurs where available.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in tree canopies during winter and along forest edges, clearings, and subalpine meadows in warmer months. Often forages near cover, moving between dense conifers and open patches.
