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We were working in our garden this week when I noticed a fully fanned tail of a ruffed grouse in the ferns close by.

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I went to the house for my camera and came back to locate the grouse. I noticed two other grouse nearby so I tried not to scare them as I approached the displaying male. He was so interested in the other grouse that he wasn’t concerned with me at all.

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He jumped up on a log and fanned out his tail. The backlighting revealed the gorgeous designs in the tail feathers.

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Males display and drum in the spring to attract the females for mating and also aggressively chase away other males. In the fall they usually don’t drum but can still be aggressive in defending their territory.

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At first, I thought he was displaying to please the females but he chased both birds away. Coveys are splitting up this time of year and young males in their aggressiveness will chase both their brothers and sisters. I am not sure if the other grouse were male or female. Both male and female look similar except for some markings on the middle of the tail which I could only see on the one displaying.

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Their neck ruff when displayed is stunning.

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As he stepped towards the other grouse, he would forcefully turn his head back and forth. This 1/30 of a second photo shows motion blur making for a distinctive photo.

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Here is one of the grouse that he chased off.

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The male is approaching the other one that was on a log. Seconds later he flew at the grouse chasing it away.

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As soon as both of the other grouse were gone, he stopped displaying and went back to eating. I was able to watch and photograph the grouse for about 30 minutes making for a great outdoor experience that I will remember for some time. Two of our granddaughters came up for the weekend and were fortunate enough to see the grouse also.

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