The Autumn Diet of Spruce Grouse: A Regional Comparison

Abstract

Spruce Grouse (Canachites canadensis) are distributed across much of northern North America (Aldrich 1963 ) . In recent years several workers have reported on the autumn or year-round food habits of this species in widely separated regions of the continent (Crichton 1963, in Ontario; Jonkel and Greer 1963, in Montana; Ellison 1966, in Alaska; Pendergast and Boag 1970, in Alberta). During September and early October of 1957 through 1961, we collected 113 crops from Franklin’ s Spruce Grouse (C. c. franklinii) in north-central Washington. In this note, we compare quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the contents of these crops to similar data for Spruce Grouse from other regions, and to similar data for Blue Grouse (Dendrugapus o&urns) in the same region from which our samples were collected. All crops were taken from birds shot by hunters. Samples were collected at a checking station near the boundary of a 100 square mile study area in the Conconully region of north-central Washington (see Zwickel et al. 1966). Crop contents were preserved in formalin and analyzed wet.