Sooty Grouse

Sooty Grouse
Gem Lake Trail, June Lake, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the Turkey, Grouse, and Partridge Family
§A Covey of Grouse§

~True Bird Fact~ The species split recently (2006) from the Dusky Grouse, this bird used to be called the Blue Grouse. Just terrific naming all around.

You know, shockingly, there's not a lot of interesting facts about this grouse. I found it kind of interesting that they largely eat pine needles in winter, and that the kind of pine tree available is basically what determines their range. Is that interesting to anyone? There was one 'fun fact' available online about how many feathers their tail has (15-22, when usually in grouse the number is not variable. Amusing!), one fact about how many eggs they have in a clutch (up to 15, which is, I guess, more than you'd think), one of the facts was that they are the 3rd largest grouse in North America (incredible. impressive). Oh well, I still like them.

 

 All right, let's get to the ~fake bird facts~ then 

Often ridden into war by smaller birds
Very fastidious about her feathers, what with the whole 'sooty' thing, you know?
Prefers a home with many roommates
Truly does not mind that she doesn't have any super interesting ~true bird facts~ about her