Blue Grouse

Dusky (interior) Blue Grouse, male displaying; Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

Dusky (interior) Blue Grouse, female; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; July.

Menu

1. Description
2. Sound
3. Other Names
4. Cool Facts
5. Full detailed species account

The Blue Grouse is a large grouse of the mountainous West. The male's deep booming call is hard to locate.

Description

• Large chicken-like bird.
• Sooty gray.
• Light band on tip of black tail.

• Size: 40-50 cm (16-20 in)
• Weight: 750-1300 g (26.48-45.89 ounces)

Sex Differences

Male bluish to blackish gray, female brown and smaller.

Sound

Male makes very deep hooting. Female makes cackles and whinnies.

Other Names

Tétras sombre (French)
Gallo azul (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Blue Grouse is the third largest grouse in North America, and one of the largest in the world. The two sage-grouse are the only larger American species.
• The number of tail feathers a bird has is usually constant within a species (and usually numbering around 10). The Blue Grouse, however, can have from 15 to 22.

Sources used to construct this page:

Zwickel, F. C. 1992. Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus ).  In The Birds of North America, No. 15 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.