Grouse and woodcock No. 1 for hunters in Michigan

Outpost

Birds SOUND OFF

Michigan is No. 1 in the U.S. for grouse and woodcock hunters, and hunters contribute a percentage of the cost of each shotgun shell and firearm to maintaining the habitat of these birds. Both birds make unusual sounds. Here are some fun facts, courtesy of the Ruffed Grouse Society, with a few comments from me.

Ruffed grouse are the most distributed resident game bird in North America.

They have excellent camouflage, so you might not see one this spring. You may, however, hear them "drumming." Some describe the sound as an engine trying to start, some as a ball bouncing.

The male grouse proclaims his territory with this sound, beating his wings against the air and creating a vacuum. While drumming, he usually stands on a log to display a ruff of feathers around his neck to attract females.

Grouse drum all year, but it picks up in the spring during mating season.

Grouse make nests by hollowing depressions in leaf litter, usually at the base of a tree or stump, or in brush.

Baby grouse look like morel mushrooms. They are adorable. They're around the size of a man's thumb when they leave the nest and appear like bumblebees in flight.

They leave the nest at around 5 days after hatching. A hen may lead her brood as far as 4 miles from the nest to a summer brood range during the first 10 days of life.

From 1,000 chicks hatched in late spring, about 400 normally survive to early autumn, 180 survive to the following nesting season, 80 are alive a year later, 36 live to breed a third time, 16 may breed a fourth time. One out of 2,200 chicks hatched may live as long as eight years.

Cutting trees helps grouse. As forests mature under protection from fire and cutting, they lose the habitat qualities ruffed grouse require. In many regions, ruffed grouse numbers have declined as forests have become more extensive and older.

The American woodcock (Scolopax minor) is known by a host of colloquial names, the most common being timberdoodle. Other colorful nicknames include Labrador twister, bogsucker and mud snipe.

Unlike grouse, they are migratory birds.

Their abnormally long bill is used for digging worms. The eyes are set far back, allowing the bird to see as it probes the ground.

The brain of an American woodcock is unique among birds. The cerebellum, which controls muscle coordination and body balance, is below the rest of the brain and above the spinal column. (In most birds, the cerebellum occupies the rear of the skull.)

During the mating season, a male timberdoodle on the ground will sound a nasal, buzzing, insect-like note usually described as a peent. Preceding each peent is a two-syllable gurgling note known as a tuko. While the peent carries several hundred yards, the much softer tuko is audible up to about 10 yards from the bird.

In contrast to grouse, woodcock chicks take awhile to leave the nest. After two weeks, they can fly short distances. And at the end of four weeks, they're almost fully grown. Not only are they flying strongly, but they have almost reached their adult size and weight. The family breaks up when the chicks are six to eight weeks old.

— Lydia Lohrer