The ruffed grouse in this part of the world– and throughout the Appalachians–tend to be red in color, but those in the Great Lakes states and New England tend to be gray.
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Archive for July, 2011
Another ruffed grouse photo
Posted in birds, wildlife, tagged ruffed grouse on July 29, 2011| 2 Comments »
Thunder chicken
Posted in birds, wildlife, tagged grouse, ruffed grouse on July 28, 2011| 8 Comments »
Better known as the ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus).
Other aliases include “partridge” or “paatridge” (as it is known in New England), and in some regions, it is called a pheasant.
It is neither a partridge nor a pheasant.
It’s a woodland grouse that is most closely related to the hazel grouse (Bonasa bonasia) of Northern Eurasia and the Severtzov’s grouse (Bonasa sewerzowi) of the mountains of Central China.
My grandpa always told me that this was the bird they ate for Thanksgiving every year.
Market turkeys weren’t available during the Depression.
But shot was cheap, and the grouse were quite common.
So that’s what they ate.
