The Spruce Grouse is a grouse of evergreen forests in northern and western North America. It feeds mainly on conifer needles, and males and females have very different plumage.
Males are brown-black with neat white spots and show a bright red eyebrow comb during displays. Females have intricate brown, buff, and white scaling.
Spruce Grouse rely on conifer needles in the snowy season. These fibrous leaves provide only a limited amount of usable energy per mouthful. Processing a large volume of needles through the digestive tract helps meet the bird’s nutritional needs in cold weather.
In January 1968, six captive birds in individual outdoor cages at Edmonton, Canada, received plenty of fresh lodgepole pine branches. Researchers weighed the leftovers and fallen needles. Average consumption was about 40 grams of dry matter per bird per day.
Comparing energy in the food and droppings showed that about 30 percent of the needles’ total energy was available to the birds. Much of the rest left in their droppings. The trial illustrated how eating a large volume could compensate for limited energy extraction from each mouthful, with evergreen branches supplying the winter diet.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Wisconsin lists Spruce Grouse as a state Threatened species. The state Department of Natural Resources identifies lowland conifer forests with swampy areas and adjacent upland spruce or pine forest as habitat. Its guidance specifies an avoidance period from 1 May to 1 July and directs management to the needs of the occupied habitat.