Voices: Ruffed Grouse

Listen as Macaulay Library Audio Archivist Martha Fischer describes listening to the drum of a male Ruffed Grouse.
Learn more about Ruffed Grouse on All About Birds: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ru...
Audio recordings by Jonathan R. Storm. Photographs by Marie Read. To explore more audio recordings visit the Macaulay Library: macaulaylibrary.org/index.do
#birds #birdwatching #birding #nature

[@redneckhippiefreak]

Im a dirt biker. When I was a kid I went for a ride and My plug wire came off. As im fixing my bike I hear what sounded like another biker trying to start his bike. Well I walked around for an hour looking for him so I could help. Never saw the biker and never saw the bird. Two years later My Dad asks if I wan to go Grouse hunting, figuring its like Pheasant I agreed. A few hours later I found that "Broken bike"

[@MrWalleye]

I have one living in the woods beside my house for the last 2 years. He drums all year long all hours of the day and night. He really needs a girlfriend.

[@VixenAurora]

As a child, I used to describe their sound as someone struggling to get a lawnmower to start. Lol

[@bulbasaurcup9151]

Scott the woz moment

[@G-man45444]

Every spring I look forward to hearing this while morel hunting. The more we hear the happier I am because I know they made it through another Saskatchewan winter.

[@skyiswomb1]

I heard this one time while camping alone and thought I was going crazy! Sounds like a giant bouncy ball being dropped on the ground haha.

[@Realwessharpe]

Is this gex?

[@thomassheehan4014]

It was in the early 70's when I was deer hunting in VT. so it was in Nov. I remember the day like it was yesterday! We had about 18" of snow that had fallen during the night on top of the 8" that was already on the ground so walking was very slow with frequent stops to catch your breath and all the sounds were pretty muffled because it was a soft snow. Around 9 am the sun started to show and within a short time the snow on the trees began to fall off and I got a big pile of it down the back of my neck into my shirt! I was clearing that out when I heard this faint thump, thump thump, and I'm thinking "what the hell is that". Several min. later I start hearing it again but this time the thumps were more frequent and with increasing speed, now I'm busting with curiosity , I've got to find out what that is! I began to move very slowly through the soft snow and it probably took me an hour or so to cover 100 yards but the sound is getting louder so I know I'm moving in the right direction. Over the next hour I maybe went only 50 yards but I can see movement that is definitely associated with the sound but because of heavy brush I could not tell what it was. Ok, now I've got to figure this out! Another hour or so of extremely slow movement and suddenly I'm looking at the back of a partridge not more than 10 feet from me but he is motionless and was moving his head around like he is trying to listen for something, so I just stood motionless and watched. After several min. he raised his wings up to about the top of his head and then they came down on the log with ever increasing speed! Then he would stop for a min. or 2 and start again. He repeated this 4 or 5 times and then stopped and started moving his head around again like he was listening, and listened for about 1/2 hour and then started again. This shy bird was totally unaware that I was within 10 feet of him and I couldn't leave because I realized that I was witnessing something that people who spend their entire lives in the woods would never see! Deer hunting took a back seat that day.

[@J-em7sb]

Used to hear this all the time outside my window and was always so confused about what it was. Sadly the grouse that frequented my backyard passed today right after I finally got to figure out what it was. Thank you for this amazing video and I hope my little friend rests in peace

[@markpaul8178]

I was beaten up by a ruffed grouse when I was 10 yrs old squirell hunting.He came from behind me and I was wearing an orange vest so my dad could keep my whereabouts known.I didn't figure out what it was until I was a grown man.I told my dad I was attacked by a chicken!

[@joeduca8582]

Thanks Martha and Cornell. Great work, yes it's "felt" more than heard, either way it's fascinating. Once I saw a male do some sort of display dance just outside my backyard.

[@heatherdillon2743]

My family and I were backpacking/camping in pleasant Grove, Utah last night and kept "feeling" the sound in our ears and we finally saw it - about 20 yards in front of us from our tent. It made its sound ALL night every little bit. Of course as soon as we got home today, I was trying to find out what it was and I stumbled across this video. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@nocturnalrecluse1216]

I remember hearing this back in 2002 while camping in the backwoods of rural Vermont. One of the most haunting sounds that I ever took in and in my opinion, is exactly how most theropods (dromeaosauridae in particular) communicated back in the late Jurassic, early Cretacous and beyond until their extinction.

[@CarapaceClavicle]

Hiking on the Appalachian Trail I heard these guys all of the time. A couple of times they almost gave me a heart attack too, because they're pretty well camouflaged and wait until the last second to clumsily spring up out of the bushes and flap away wildly just inches from a surprised backpacker's head.

[@alexandramarstall2734]

Went for a quick hike in the George Washington National Forest in western VA near Harrisonburg. It felt like a low, strong vibration. almost felt like it was coming from the earth. like a huge ball being bounced on the ground, bouncing slow to fast.

[@timothysievert]

My girlfriend and I heard one Sunday night while camping near Grand Marais. We were totally baffled as to what it could be. We imagined a much bigger animal of course. The audio quality of this recording is great.

[@johndr3890]

This is amazing! I hear this all time at my cabin. I always wondered if it was some distant neighbor relentlessly trying and failing to start their generator!

[@melsterifficmama1808]

We seriously thought that some guy with the greatest patience in the world, but the worst small engine knowledge ever, was working on his tractor from sunrise to sunset for the entire Memorial Day weekend while we were camping in the wilderness. We discussed what was wrong. "It's sparking. The starter is fine. Bad gas. Clogged fuel filter. Carb needs cleaned. Water in it." For 4 days we discussed and even looked for the poor soul when we drove anywhere. We didn't find this video until we got internet service on the highway home. We weren't even looking for this, but the bird we scared away two nights in a row (nighthawk). When this came up we laughed so hard for so long! We are never going to forget this whole adventure!

[@didntknoicouldchangethis]

How cool...its like he's really bouncing his beaks off of the log...I just moved to Virginia, and I came across one of these little buggers, out of nowhere! I'm in love, as a bird watcher! Sure a beautiful creature...

[@goose6941]

I always describe it to people as a second, really fast heart beat. Such cool birds!