Sooty Grouse

The Sooty Grouse is a large, dark gray-brown grouse of Pacific coastal mountain forests, split from the interior Dusky Grouse in 2006 (both were formerly known jointly as "Blue Grouse"). Males are sooty gray overall with a plain tail showing a broad, pale grayish terminal band, and display by inflating yellow-to-purplish neck air sacs bordered by whitish feather bases, often calling from high in a conifer rather than from the ground. Females are mottled brown-gray, well camouflaged for ground nesting.

Key field marks

• Dark sooty-gray plumage in males with a broad, pale grayish terminal tail band (wider than in Dusky Grouse)
• Yellow to purplish inflatable neck air sacs during display
• Often displays and calls from higher perches in tall conifers compared to the more ground-based Dusky Grouse

Similar species

Dusky Grouse is essentially identical in plumage but occurs in interior mountain ranges rather than along the Pacific coast, has a narrower tail band, and a slightly different hoot pattern; the two species overlap little in range.

Habitat and Range

Sooty Grouse inhabit coniferous forests, especially Douglas-fir, hemlock, and true fir stands, in coastal and coast-adjacent mountain ranges, often using more open subalpine or logged habitat in summer.

Range

The species occurs along the Pacific coast mountain ranges from southeastern Alaska south through British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California, including the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges.

Migration

Like its interior relative, Sooty Grouse make a modest elevational migration, moving into dense, tall conifer stands at higher elevation in winter and descending to more open habitat with berries and forbs in summer.

Behavior

Displaying males often perch high in a conifer tree, inflating their neck air sacs and giving a series of deep hoots that can carry a considerable distance through forested terrain.

Voice

The advertising call is a series of low hoots, generally described as deeper or more resonant than the Dusky Grouse's call and often given from an elevated tree perch.

Feeding

Conifer needles dominate the winter diet, while berries, leaves, flowers, and insects become more important during the snow-free season.

Nesting and breeding

Females nest on the ground under shrub or tree cover and raise the brood alone; chicks are precocial and follow the hen shortly after hatching.