We spotted this little lady on the side of the road by Swiftcurrent in Many Glaciers…
Cool Facts
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Two distinct subspecies of Spruce Grouse exist. “Franklin’s Grouse,” D. c. franklinii, found in the southwestern portion of the range, in the mountains from Alberta southward, has an all black tail with small white spots on the feathers overlying it. The northeastern subspecies, D. c. canadensis, has a rufous tip to the tail and lacks white spots above the tail.
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The Spruce Grouse’s crop can store up to ten percent of the bird’s body weight in food, to be digested at night.
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The Spruce Grouse’s gastrointestinal organs change with seasonal shifts in diet. In winter, when the bird must eat more food to maintain its mass and energy balance, the gizzard grows by about 75 percent, and other sections of the digestive tract increase in length by about 40 percent.
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Now that’s a well fed bird! Great shot.
good capture
A great shot.
great find and wondeful shot of her
She’s very pretty!! Loved reading the facts of the species.
so very cool!
Nice find!! Boom, Bobbi and Gary.
She’s a beauty!
Fantastic shot, appreciate the info on the grouse.
Really great shot of this bird. I recall a story of my brother sending me into a bunch of bushes to scout out deer. When I got inside I heard this really weird noise and thought it was a bear (that’s what he told me to look out for) so I ran outside scared half to death only to learn it was just Grouse making mating calls. Yeah he laughed, I was not amused.
What a wonderful shot!
Beautiful bird. That’s amazing how they adapt. Thank you for sharing.