Order CM 



ormes 



Grouse: Family Tetraonidae 



Richardson's Grouse: 



Dendragafus obscurus richardsoni (Douglas) 



DESCRIPTION "Similar to D. obscurus, but tail without distinct terminal gray band, 

 and tail feathers more truncated at tip." (Bailey) Downy young: Similar to Sooty 

 Grouse. Si%e: Male, length 2.0-2.3, wing 9.40-10.00, tail 8. Female, length 17.50- 

 19.00, wing 8.70-9.00, tail 6. Nest and eggs: Similar to Sooty Grouse. 

 DISTRIBUTION General: Resident in Rocky Mountains from central British Columbia 

 and western Alberta to northeastern Oregon, central Idaho, and Wyoming. In Ore- 

 gon: Permanent resident. All Blue Grouse records from Wallowa, Baker, Union, 

 northern Malheur and Harney, eastern Crook, Grant, Wheeler, southern Morrow, 

 and southern and eastern Umatilla Counties are properly referred to this form. (See 

 Figure 4.) 



THE MALE Richardson's Grouse is distinguished in life from the Sooty and 

 Sierra Grouse by the following salient differences. It is a somewhat larger 

 bird with a noticeably longer and squarer tail, and it lacks entirely the 

 terminal band found in the other two. Its hoot is much the same as that of 

 the others but lacks volume and carrying power. Its air sacs are much 

 smaller than the huge affairs of the others and are red purple instead of 

 orange yellow. The females and young are quite similar to those of the 

 other species. 



Early records of Blue Grouse were badly confused, so that we find Rich- 

 ardson's Grouse reported on the coast and breeding records for the Sooty 

 Grouse in the Blue Mountains. All records of Blue Grouse in the Blue 

 Mountain area refer to Richardson's Grouse, whereas those from the 

 Warner Mountains, Cascades, and Coast Ranges refer to the Sooty and 

 Sierra Grouse. So far as we can tell the earliest definite reference to this 

 species as an Oregon bird was by Audubon (1838), who listed it from the 

 Blue Mountains of Oregon. Bendire (1877) found the first nest reported 

 from the state on June 7, 1876, near the summit of Canyon City Mountain. 

 It contained 9 eggs. He reported both this species and fuliginosus abundant 

 in this territory; this was surely a mistake, as there is no evidence of an 

 overlapping of ranges of these forms in this area. 



In habits and behavior Richardson's Grouse are quite similar to other 

 Blue Grouse and gather on the higher open ridges in August to feed. At 

 this season the currant patches of the Wallowas are a favorite rendezvous 

 of this species and the Gray Ruffed Grouse, which feed together, each 



