Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) displaying in the fall, Montana. Image made with a DSLR camera trap with a sensor and external flashes. There are two interesting behaviors visible in the image: Fall display: Some grouse species will also display in the fall, not only the spring. They are triggered by the relative day length, just like in the spring. Lekking behavior? Ruffed grouse do not congregate on a lek. So what is going on here? Looking at all the images, there was only 1 male that fanned its tail and ruffed its neck feathers. This is likely the only dominant male in the image. The others are likely immature grouse that group up in the fall and stay together through the winter. They may have wandered into the adult male's territory, and then the adult male started signaling its dominance. Apparently this happened to occur in front of my camera...
Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) displaying in the fall, Montana. Image made with a DSLR camera trap with a sensor and external flashes.
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#wildlife #birds #nature
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