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Re: Ruffed Grouse



Stu,

Most gallinaceous birds can fly within a couple of weeks of hatching- long before they acquire their full size and "normal" plumage. They start growing their flight feathers (remiges and retrices) first, and some species even hatch with the tips of these feathers showing. Bobwhite chicks can make very short flights in as little as a week or 10 days after hatching. This is, of course, an adaptation to the abundant predators confronting the highly mobile, active, and vulnerable chicks. The most extreme example would be the megapodes (odd creatures that incubate their eggs in mounds of rotting vegetation or volcanic sand- "megapode" refers to the inordinately large feet the birds use to regulate the temperature in their nest mounds); in some of these species the chicks are able to fly strongly within 24 hours of digging their way out of the mound (no doubt to escape the local Komodo dragon or some such predator). On the othe hand, most ducklings, given the protection of water, don't fly the first time 'til 6 or 8 weeks after hatching.

Take care,

Clyde Sorenson
Clayton and Raleigh, NC

Stu Gibeau wrote:

Wen't for a run on the Old Toll Road in Montreat, NC this morning and had a
Ruffed Grouse do it's broken wing routine in front of me. Figuring it's
babies were near by I looked over the bank and saw eight tennis ball sized
chicks. What really surprised me was that 3 or 4 of them actually flew away
from me. I didn't realize they could fly before reaching adulthood. A
short way further down the trail I came across a Black & White Warbler doing
the broken wing routine on the ground. I didn't look for the nest. I
didn't want to over stress it that much. All in all it was a pretty good
run. Picked up my first Peewee and Canada Warbler of the year.

Stu Gibeau
Black Mountain, NC