Abundance of Richardson and Franklin Grouse in Idaho in 1948
Abundance of Richardson and Franklin Grouse in Idaho in 1948.--The following comments are based on field notes and specimens taken in the period of August 12 to September 3, 1948, in two counties in central Idaho. At Loon Creek Ranger Station and Indian Springs, in Custer County, and at Perkins Lake and Prairie Creek, in Blaine County, Richardson Grouse (Dendragupus obscurus rickurdsonii) were noticeably abundant, the birds being much more numerous than when observed by me in 1938-1944. It was impossible to travel far along a stream without observing one or more family groups of this species. At Loon Creek, the size of the groups and the different-sized young found together in a group indicated that at least two broods had become combined. As is usual at this time of the year, the males were higher in the mountains than were the females and young, although a few males were observed at low elevations where they came down to a stream for water in early morning or late evening. The average number of young in seven broods was four (extremes, Z-7), and the majority of the young birds were well grown, some being indistinguishable from the adults in size.
At Loon Creek Ranger Station, and at Perkins Lake, the Franklin Grouse (Canuchites frank&ii) was observed daily. There were several small springs, near Loon Creek, at which the birds drank, and at Perkins Lake there was a grove of conifers that served as a roost for these birds. Around a spring near our camp at Loon Creek, the birds were often seen in early morning and in late afternoon where they may have come to drink. No vocal sounds were heard at any time, and the birds were so tame as to allow the approach of a person to within less than an arm’s length. The impression gained there was that the birds were abundant, but that because of their retiring habits, especially during the day, only a fraction of the total population was detected. For example, none was observed unless it was dislodged from immediately under a person’s feet. Some birds thus disturbed flew into the trees, and others merely moved a few steps away.
A male Franklin Grouse was observed “strutting” in a road on August 17, three miles north of Loon Creek Ranger Station, followed by a female thought at the time to be of the same species. The two birds walked down the road ahead of me for some hundred yards, the male bird leading the way with wings depressed and tail held horizontally. Suddenly, the male flew for a short distance, at which time the other bird crouched motionless in the road. The female was shot and proved to be not a Franklin Grouse but a young of the year of the Richardson Grouse. This association is the first of its kind I have known.
At Perkins Lake, a roost was discovered that was utilized by Franklin Grouse. One night the birds were counted as they arrived to roost, and at least fifteen roosted in the grove of conifers roughly 100 feet by 100 feet. Again no sound was heard that was made vocally by the birds; and the count was made by hearing the beat of wings as the birds flew upward through the thick trees. No daytime groupings, or young birds, were seen at this locality. The families evidently disband early, and the birds occur singly as far as was observed during the day.-M. DALE ARVEY, Mtiseum of Natural History, Lawrence, Kansas, November 27,1948.
