This project is completed, with publications available in the Journal of Wildlife Management, Auk: Ornithological Advances, Wildlife Biology, and Avian Conservation and Ecology.
Results from our ruffed grouse work were also covered by a number of news outlets - see the article from the Bangor Daily News here.
A link to our final project report is found at the bottom of this page.
Results from our ruffed grouse work were also covered by a number of news outlets - see the article from the Bangor Daily News here.
A link to our final project report is found at the bottom of this page.
"The physics of beauty is one department of natural science still in the Dark Ages. Everybody knows that the autumn landscape in the northwoods is the land, plus a red maple, plus a ruffed grouse. In terms of conventional physics, the grouse represents only a millionth of either the mass or the energy of an acre. Yet subtract the grouse and the whole thing is dead. An enormous amount of some kind of motive power has been lost."
- Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac "My intimate association with grouse has extended over a period of nearly forty years. In that time I have come to regard him as the wisest and, also, the most foolish of birds. His keenness of sight and hearing is a thing to marvel at. His knowledge as to the psychological moment for bursting into sudden, startled and startling flight is a thing which he has acquired from countless ancestors." - Burton Spiller, Grouse Feathers |
The ruffed grouse is a game bird that has been studied by biologists and revered by upland hunters for the better part of a Century. We here in the lab count ourselves lucky to be part of that legacy. Ruffed grouse are a native Maine bird that are also an extremely popular game species pursued by Maine residents and non-resident visitors to the state. In 2014 we initiated a project with collaborators from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to conduct the first large-scale study of ruffed grouse ever conducted in Maine, using a combination of radio-telemetry, banding, and habitat assessment. Our objectives were to quantify seasonal and annual variation in ruffed grouse survival, estimate annual harvest rates during the state's three-month hunting season, and correlate ruffed grouse reproductive parameters such as nest success and chick survival to forest composition and management. In doing so, we sought to close a large gap in the current understanding of ruffed grouse ecology in the state and the region, and to contribute to future management of this popular Maine gamebird. From those first efforts in 2014 through the fall of 2016, we captured and radio-marked over 250 ruffed grouse. We monitored those radio-marked birds for survival, nest success, and habitat use, and two graduate students associated with the project completed their thesis research during the summer of 2017. Check out the pdf attached below for the final technical report on the progress of the project.
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