Sharptailed Grouse - Grouse Hunting - Upland Hunting

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Sharptailed Grouse

 

Description

A sharp-tailed grouse is a chicken-like bird that has a small head, short legs, a small bill, and the tail is medium-long and pointed. These birds are mainly mottled overall in white, black, gold and brown color. However, their lower belly and under tail coverts are white.

Habitat

The sharp-tailed grouses main habitat is open prairies with groves of deciduous shrubs/trees like birch, willow, and aspen. You can also find these birds thriving in bushy groves, open burns, prairies, coniferous forests, and forest edges. However, they are known to change habitats with seasons due to temperature changes. For instance, these birds prefer occupying open grasslands during summer and in winter they shift to groves of trees or shrubs. You can also find these game birds burrowing into snowdrifts during cold seasons (winter) to insulate themselves.

Diet

These birds are mainly vegetarian because their main diet throughout the year entails seeds, leaves, and buds. However, during winter when most seeds are buried by snow, sharp-tailed grouse feeds on buds of either trees or shrubs. During summer, the birds feed on buds, insects, flowers and green shoots. In the fall, the main diet is constituted by waste grains, berries, seeds, and leaves. These birds can forage either on the ground or in trees depending on the availability of food and their locality. However, they can fly for miles either looking for roosting or feeding areas.

Nesting

The females build the nests in a shallow depression using sparse linings of leaves, ferns or grass without any help from the males. The nests are mainly on the ground under a thick clump of grass of shrub to protect the eggs or the young ones from predators.

The male and female sharp-tailed grouse mate during the spring season. The males assemble at display ground (also known as leks) where display their prowess to attract a mate. They spread their wings while pointing their tails up, hold their heads low and stamp their feet rapidly while moving either in circles or forward. At times the males inflate their neck sacs and then deflates them producing a cooing sound as a way of showing strength and authority. Eventually, females visit the display ground and mate with one of the males (mostly, aged and experienced males mate more often) because they are preferred by the females.

Eggs

The female sharp-tailed grouse lay between 5 to 17 eggs. The eggs are usually brown speckled and they are incubated by the female grouse for 23 to 24 days. After the young ones hatch, they leave the nest immediately. The females tend to their young ones by leading them to feeding areas although the young ones have to feed themselves. Finally, after 1 to 2 weeks, the young sharp-tailed grouses can start making short flights.


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