next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
Hi Jim & All, May 7, 2007
Probably no more surprised than I was. But behavior that one sees
only once in a lifetime rarely makes it into descriptions of typical
behavior, perhaps because the author, 15 years later, says (to
paraphrase Lester Pearson) 'did I really see what I thought I saw when I
saw it or did I not see what I thought I saw when I didn't see it ?' I
kick myself for not having made notes on the spot and memory
unfortunately can play tricks.
Nest was no doubt an unfortunate choice of words. If the cock was in
fact attempting to draw me away, as I concluded from context, then it
was more likely with reference to the hen as opposed to young or nest.
One additional wrinkle; this was in a area that is heavily hunted
for R Grouse, where R Grouse are normally wary at all seasons. This cock
was the opposite of wary.
With respect to chickens, you should at least be eternally grateful
Jim that I did not write "chicken's".
Word usage does change over time (e.g. marine used to mean of the
sea and now, apparently, it means too wet to plow) but my old detailed
Webster's Dictionary (2373 pp. of fine print) would suggest that
'chickens' is slightly more correct than 'chicks' with reference to
young Grouse at the running stage; Chicken: "...the young
of...gallinaceous birds..."; Chick: "...a young chicken, as still in the
egg or just come out of it".
In barnyard usage, chicks huddle near the mother hen when there is a
scare; chickens scatter (especially when Chicken Little is a member).
Yt, DW, Kentville
Jim Wolford wrote:
>I'm very surprised at David's report below, naively without doing any
>homework, because in my experience most male grouse, pheasants, turkeys, and
>partridges do not participate in family matters at all after courting and
>mating with the females (as many as possible). Does anyone on the list have
>any info' on this.
>
>By the way, I presume that David's "chickens" below should read "chicks".
>
>Cheers from Jim in Wolfville
>----------
>From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
>Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>Date: Sat, 05 May 2007 20:25:18 -0300
>To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>Subject: Re: [NatureNS] FW: re displaying ruffed grouse, and robin mobbing
>barred owl
>
>Hi Bob, Jim & All, May 5, 2007
> I saw this display once (fanned tail, wings held out & back, neck
>feathers flared, along with regular contraction and extension of display
>which introduced movement) and, from the circumstances, took it to be an
>attempt at distraction; equivalent to the broken wing display. No doubt
>it also serves to impress hens.
>
> Circumstances were roughly as follows. I was walking along a narrow
>woods road and, just as I started to turn to the right into the woods, a
>male RG ran out onto the road about 5 paces away, displayed, then when I
>continued to move into the woods it moved more directly into my path and
>displayed again. At about this time a hen with the broken wing staggered
>down hill from ahead and chickens scurried off in several directions. It
>all happened very quickly; likely 2-3 seconds.
>
> So your male RG may have been attempting to draw something else away
>from a nest when you first saw it.
>
>Yours truly, Dave Webster, Kentville
>
>Jim Wolford wrote:
>
>>>From what Bob related at the bottom of his note, that robin had better be
>>very careful, since, accoarding to Bernard Forsythe, robins are very
>>frequent prey of barred owls! Cheers from Jim
>>----------
>>From: Bob McDonald <bobathome@hfx.eastlink.ca>
>>Date: Fri, 04 May 2007 21:00:26 -0300
>>To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>>Subject: [NatureNS] Daytime visit to our owl survey route
>>
>>Good evening,
>>
>>This afternoon, Suzanne Borkowski and I scouted out and re-flagged my owl
>>route in the Pockwock watershed.....
>>
>>....the high-light of the afternoon had to be a male Ruffed Grouse in
>>FULL DISPLAY mode!! What a sight! The illustration in Peterson came no
>>where near to doing "our" bird justice. We first saw it in the middle of
>>the road about 100 m ahead. We stopped immediately and checked it out
>>through binoculars. Once we had figured out its identity, it ambled slowly
>>off the road and we moved forward to where it disappeared from view and
>>Suzanne turned off the engine. Within a few seconds, we noticed it again
>>moving slowly through the saplings at the side of the road. Apart from the
>>fully fanned out tail, the ruff around the neck was fully extended such that
>>the head was barely visible. Every few seconds it shook its head and the
>>ruff feathers magnified every move. This bird did everything but go into
>>the drumming mode. We never did see the female but there must have been one
>>around; certainly this male would have been very hard for a female to
>>resist. The best illustration that we could find is on page 61 of the 5th
>>edition of the Nat Geog field guide. In 33 years of birding in Canada, I
>>had never seen this display before - it really gave new meaning to the name
>>RUFFED GROUSE!!
>>
>>Yesterday while doing some geocaching in Oakfield PP, an owl gave 2 long
>>quavering calls in mid-afternoon. The bird was easy to find since it was
>>being mobbed by a very vocal and upset Robin. It turned out to be a Barred
>>Owl - only one was seen.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>Bob McDonald
>>Halifax
>>
>>
>
>
>
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects