Old Cuddy could tell the month O' the year by the taste O' the partridge.

Good question n Boco comment on dark meat related possibly. Might have something to do w dark meat is more oxygenated than light meat and so the bigger heart required to do that. I think birds that fly nil have small heart and birds that fly more bigger heart. Ptarmigan big hearts and great flyers. The Q then is do spruce grouse fly quit a bit. Might be despite appearances other wise. Must try to find a good tetronidae/grouse family bio. Boco correct young spruce have paler meat in the fall but darken up as the season progresses.

it's been years since I've shot a Grouse

Better!

Jack

I have a couple of thoughts on those issues. That's all they are though...just thoughts......no evidence to support them.



I think there are a couple things going on here that MAY shed light on the color and flavor of meat in young of the year birds.........and on the difference in heart size between ruffed and spruce grouse.

Grouse are "precocial". That is, when they hatch they have down and their eyes are open. They are ready to rock as soon as they dry off and usually are able to leave the nest in as little as an hour but for sure within 24 hours.
They still can't fly but they can walk and forage for themselves.

So these birds are eating mainly insects and a few seeds they can find on the ground. Only when spruce grouse can fly and access a tree can they eat needles. I think that is when the color and taste of their meat begins to change.

The ruffies main grub is the aspen bud. Much higher in nutrition than spruce needles so the ruffie can get a meal in less time than a spruce grouse and thus avoid exposure to predators somewhat. Also the buds don't taste as 'toxic' as needles.

Conifer needles can be toxic to some predators. So I am going to guess that adapting to a diet of needles may be one form of defense against some predators............including man. I'm sure we've all tasted spruce needles. Not good. We all know how apparently stupid spruce grouse are so they need all the help they can get as a species.

Heart size may also be associated somewhat with diet. Since needles are much lower in nutrition than buds or berries, the spruce grouse has a gut that increases in length during cold months. MAYBE that additional gut length needs more blood or a stronger heart to pump blood that extra distance.

Another factor MAY be that the ruffie is better adapted behaviorally to deal with cold.

Spruce grouse we know will congregate in trees as a roost. There is a small bit of thermal advantage to a small group of trees but mainly it gets them out of reach of some predators. Nevertheless they are exposed to the cold air and wind.

On the other hand, a ruffie will dive into the snow and tunnel 15 or 20 feet to create a space that has a much warmer and constant temperature than the "outside" environment.

Anyway it is my guess that perhaps the ruffie doesn't need as large a heart because he manages his 'heat/energy budget" better than the spruce grouse.


Just my two cents and it may be worth even less

A lot to digest White but one quick comment is ruff, spruce and ptarmigan all dive into the snow when it is cold enough and snow is soft enough. Seem lots of times. Sometimes when you have only slightly disturbed them you will see a head poke up, out of the snow, and then they rocket up shortly after.

Yeah I have been scared witless by ruffies coming up out of the snow but I can't recall a spruce grouse doing it. Maybe I just haven't been observant enough. I can go a decade or more without ever seeing a ptarmigan so can't really say on that......but I wouldn't be surprised if they do it too

I just popped 7 spruce hens on the way to the post office back. Everybody was purple, but one. Still on the cranberries. Won't move to spruce needles until cranberries drop for the most part. Then it seems to be straight up spruce needle diet. I believe my ruffies were planted and not native. They were not here 30 years ago.

Those ptarmigan ghost flying of the snow at night in front of the sno-go have scared me half to death.

Try staying seated on a horse and have them burst up in the air right in front of their nose. Fun.

I think my heart gets larger just from those adrenalin bursts

Ya are what ya eat.....I know that in deer, antelope, heard it with snow goose hunters, even corn fed cows

I KNOW that's a fact with milking goats . If they eat weeds, the milk is awful . Fed on sweet feed, it is as sweet, rich and creamy as ever.

Conifer needles....UGH.

It would make sense that ptarmigan would roost in the snow also since where we see them there aren't many suitable trees

Around here winter diet of spruce ones is balsam fir needles. Not sure ever saw them eat spruce needles. Some jack pine got planted here years ago by Forestry and some ppl have seen that in their crops too. Fall berries as long as they can get them.

Ptarmigan winter willow buds, and the odd time pull willow bark off too, and in wind blown areas and where caribou dig they can get at berries in winter too. Fall they like the berries.

Young ones, of any kind, supposed to eat a lot of bugs over the summer.

Ptarmigan can roost in snow even where there are a lot of trees.

Real cold and you can find ptarmigan and spruce roasted in snow in middle of day at times. I suppose they feed after daylight and then dive in the snow to get out the cold and digest what is in their crop. Snow holes usually full of poop. I think they feed twice a day - morning and evening. I think too they fed on moonlight nights as at times you can shoot them just before dark and crops are empty but most times you shoot them just before dark and their crops are full.