They spend most of their time on the ground; and are omnivores eating, buds, berries, seeds, leaves and insects.
The ruffed grouse is apparently mostly quiet on the ground, and when surprised, may explode into flight, beating their wings very loudly. This behaviour has worked perfectly on me. I jumped really out of my skin and was startled so much about this extreme noise. (A bit like a pheasant). It took a few seconds until my heartbeat has returned to normal and I could breathe again calm, to get a decent picture. Yes I know, you all will smile about this; I’m telling you that I can get close to snakes, and not being afraid of spiders or any other bug, etc., but a grouse made me jump. :-)
*** :-) No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this identification. Nova Scotia is not my natural habitat. Please correct me, if my identification is not correct or you know a more specific name or subfamily. I’m also interested in common or local names or any other special information.
Great capture. Most the time I have seen them it's either their backside as they are running through the brush or the explosion out of the brush much as you described.
August 20th, 2015
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