Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Breeding Range. (Fig. 51). Common in the Turtle Mountains; fairly common in the Pembina Hills and on the deltaic sand area of western Pembina County; uncommon in the Killdeer Mountains of Dunn County (introduced population originating from wild-trapped birds transplanted from the Turtle Mountains in the early 1950's); uncommon and local elsewhere in the northern portion of the Agassiz Lake Plain within Pembina and Walsh Counties (occurring in bottomland woods along the Pembina, Tongue, Park, and Forest Rivers). This species has also been recorded on a few occasions in the aspen sandhills of McHenry County, near Upham and Towner (Johnson 1964). During the late 1800's, Ruffed Grouse were present along the Red River from Fargo north to the Canadian boundary (W. B. Bell, H. V. Williams). In 1919, this species was reported in timbered areas along the Sheyenne River southwest of Fargo (Freeman 1919).
Populations of Ruffed Grouse in the Turtle Mountains and Pembina Hills are cyclic, usually reaching a peak every 10 years (Johnson 1964). Variations in populations are indicated by spring counts of drumming males along standardized census routes. In the Turtle Mountains, the average number of drumming males recorded per census stop (M. D. Johnson and T. Upgren) varied as follows: 1951-5.0, 1952-4.2, 1953-5.4, 1954-3.1, 1955-1.9, 1956-1.5, 1957-1.3, 1958-1.4, 1959-1.5, 1960-3.3, 1961-2.4, 1968-1.7, 1969-1.9. Drumming counts were also conducted in the Pembina Hills (M. D. Johnson) and yielded the following results: 1951-2.6, 1952-2.1, 1953-4.0, 1954-1.4, 1955-1.3, 1956-2.1, 1957-2.0, 1958-2.7, 1960-3.6.
Breeding Habitat. Ruffed Grouse inhabit extensive tracts of northern deciduous forest that contain scattered openings. The predominant tree species in North Dakota habitats of this type include quaking aspen, paper birch, green ash, bur oak, and balsam poplar. Beaked hazelnut often is the prevailing understory shrub in these stands. Other common woody plants, according to Johnson (1964), include speckled alder, choke cherry, highbush cranberry, red-osier dogwood, bearberry, serviceberry, nannyberry, pin cherry, rose, and willow.
Nesting. Ted Upgren of the North Dakota State Game and Fish Department estimated the hatching dates of 87 immature Ruffed Grouse that had been shot during the hunting seasons of 1966, 1967, and 1968 in the Turtle Mountains. This was done on the basis of differences in wing feathers as related to age with the following results:
| May 28-June3 | 1 bird | (1%) |
| June 4-June 10 | 15 birds | (17%) |
| June 11-June 17 | 33 birds | (38%) |
| June 18-June 24 | 17 birds | (20%) |
| June 25-July 1 | 14 birds | (16%) |
| July 2-July 8 | 5 birds | (6%) |
| July 9-July 15 | 2 birds | (2%) |
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| Figure 51. Breeding Range of Ruffed Grouse. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/3000.htm
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