118 COI ER CHAR ACT ERISTICS A\D SHELTER REQUREME.XTS 



grouse food species such as pin cherrv. aspen, thornapple. wild apple, sumac, dogwoods 

 and \iburnums. These commonly occur adjacent to woodlands in which hardwoods and coni- 

 fers furnish winter shelter and spring breeding grounds. Woodcutting operations still make 

 a\ailable a profusion of herbs, berries and insects for the summer use of the broods. The 

 extent of any one covert is seldom large, thus providing a characteristicallv high inlersper- 

 sion of cover types and a wealth of desirable grouse habitats. 



This is but a \ignette of New York State grouse coverts. It is the setting in which the 

 Investigation carried on its work. 



Detailed descriptions of the physiographic features and plant associations of each region 

 have been purposely omitted since a chapter would be necessary to describe each in detail. 



THE ROLE OF SUCCESSION 



In outlining the makeup of grouse coverts in each of these regions emphasis was intention- 

 ally placed on the forest uses, past and present. The extent to which such crops as forage 

 or wood products are harvested may affect the productivity of a woodland for grouse quite 

 as much as does its natural composition. Most of these practices tend to arrest or throw 

 back its normal development to an earlier stage. This may exert a strong influence on the 

 grouse, for each stage varies considerably in its ability to produce the required food and 

 shelter. Likewise grouse need change with the seasons as well as with the age and the sex 

 of the birds. The partridge has justly been called a transition type species in that it finds 

 its year-round requirements largely met neither in the first stages associated with grasslands 

 nor in the last or climax tvpes of dense unbroken forest. The productive coverts are those 

 in between. 



The jirogression by which one stage takes over and grows into the next higher association 

 of plants has been termed succession. But. since in grouse habitats considerable time is in- 

 volved in making the change, many hunters fail to recognize in this a likely reason why 

 there may not be as many birds in their favorite coverts as they once remember. 



Grouse cover is constantly changing. Insects and disease, fire, the axe. cow and plow alter 

 the normal succession. \^Tiere the climax type is forest, meadows, if left alone, seed in sooner 

 or later to rank herbs and brush. The lime and kind depend on many things. Among these 

 are site, seed supply, weather and the activities of birds and mammals, particularly mice. 

 Quick-growing species that seldom do well under shade usually thrive here, furnishing a 

 shelter under which the more permanent species find growth conditions favorable. Manv 

 of the larger fruiting trees and shrubs, such as sumach, cherry, apple, thornapple and grape, 

 require considerable sun if thev are to bear abtnidantly and. accordingly, reach their lic«t de- 

 velopment on such overgrown lands. 



On the degree to wliii h ihis development has progressed depends the use grouse make of 

 such overgrown lands. As long as the vegetation remains open and luxuriant in character. 

 an abundance of insects, seeds, fruits and desirable leafy material characteristic of such cover 

 attract grouse and adults throughout both the summer and fall. Once the trees take over, shut- 

 ting out the sunlight, most of these plants gradually disappear. Its imjiortance to grouse 

 changes accordingly. 



Left alone, overgrown fields e\entuall\ become second-growth woodlands with a more or 

 less dense undergrowth or a ground cover of herbs, sedges and grasses, depending on soil 

 fertility, moisture and the existing plant association. Gradually, the quick-growing, sun-loving 

 species of the previous stages are shaded out b\ the taller oaks, beeches, birches, maples and 



