Diet
In warm months, the blue grouse eats seeds, berries, and
insects. In the winter, the blue grouse eats conifer needles. Some blue grouse are short distance
migrators and, depending on where the food is, travel to either higher or lower elevations.
Life Cycle
The female blue grouse lays five to ten eggs in a scrape lined with pine needles and grass. The nest is usually hidden under a bush, log, rocky overhang, or small tree. The female incubates the eggs and cares for the chicks. The chicks hatch after 25 days and soon begin foraging for food. They fledge in seven to ten days.
Behavior
During mating season, the male blue grouse often perches on a log or post and calls out with a loud booming hoot that can be heard for miles. The comb over his eyes stands up and he fans out his tail and puffs out his neck to display his neck sac.
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