View Full Version : Pennsylvania's State Bird
Click on ruffed grouse (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=458&q=161241) to view information provided by Pennsylvania Game Commission.
I'll never tire of seeing ruffed grouse or partridge as they are more apt to be called in New England.
Perhaps the single experience that stands out most in my memory occurred in Maine's Bigelow Preserve. As I drove along East Flagstaff Road, I saw a partridge fly from a pine to the road below and I slowed down.
Almost immediately after the partridge set down on the road ahead of me, a hawk swooped down upon it, killed it and began to eat it. As the scene unfolded before my eyes, I came to a stop and watched for what must have been more than 5 minutes before the hawk flew off with its prey.
I've watched accipiters eat song birds, but never before or since have I seen what I saw that day in the wilds of Maine.
More humorously, I've flushed a grouse from the trail and as its trademark rapid ascent was beginning its flight path squarely intersected an 18" dbh tree about 15 feet away. It got up again and flew off but not quite as rapidly as before and certainly not the same direction.
YEah, they can startle ya........I still think that the state insect the best. The Firefly.....I've never seen'm prettier then in PA. And I am biased......the kids in my elementary school were the ones who decided that we needed a state bug
Old Grouse
10-02-2007, 10:08
Just leave the old ones alone!
I've watched accipiters eat song birds, but never before or since have I seen what I saw that day in the wilds of Maine.
Sounds like a Goshawk.
Green Bean
10-02-2007, 11:34
I love the Ruffed Grouse
Lone Wolf
10-02-2007, 11:35
I love the Ruffed Grouse
yup. good eatin'
Sounds like a Goshawk.
I think the hawk that killed the partridge was a buteo, perhaps a broad-wing, but what I described happened many years ago.
Do you think a broad-wing would be capable of killing and flying off with a partridge?
I do, but what do I know.
How's migration down there? Busy here in Acadia.
Will be good watching once the leaves drop.
How's migration down there?
Don't know. Haven't been paying attention. Go to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary's homepage (http://www.hawkmountain.org) to view the count.
Thought you might like that one had you not seen it before. Someday you must visit and tell me beforehand when you expect be here.
yup. good eatin'
if'n you can hit 'em. Always miss them with the bow, feathers just don't fill you up.:D .
Toolshed
10-03-2007, 18:03
The drumming is the best.
Footslogger
10-03-2007, 18:06
[quote=Shades of Gray;417498]I'll never tire of seeing ruffed grouse or partridge as they are more apt to be called in New England.
=======================================
I accidentally hiked between a momma grouse and her chicks one day on the trail. Have heard stories about how dangerous it is to get between a momma and baby bear but lemme tell ya ...that momma grouse spread her wings and started flappin them as she charged towards me. Scared the bejeebers out of me.
'Slogger
shelterbuilder
10-03-2007, 18:07
I was walking my maintenence-section of trail on Monday (just south of Wm. Penn shelter) and flushed one from no more than 5 feet away - scared me half to death!:o :D Man, I hate it when that happens! She went out sounding like a drum on steroids!
NICKTHEGREEK
10-03-2007, 18:45
I grew up in Western Pa and wondered why the ring neck pheasant wasn't the state bird. A crisp autumn day, a freshly harvested cornfield and a German Shorthair Pointer. Perfect.
I grew up in Western Pa and wondered why the ring neck pheasant wasn't the state bird. A crisp autumn day, a freshly harvested cornfield and a German Shorthair Pointer. Perfect.
It's a non-native. The species is from Asia.
The drumming is the best.
I heard lots of Grouse at Grateful Dead shows. ;)
I think the hawk that killed the partridge was a buteo, perhaps a broad-wing, but what I described happened many years ago.
Do you think a broad-wing would be capable of killing and flying off with a partridge?
No. A Grouse is a bit big for a Broadie. I'd bet money it was a Goshawk.
I heard lots of Grouse at Grateful Dead shows. ;)
No, that was a little red rooster. :D
Checked some field guides today. Grouse is a favored prey of the Goshawk.
You might have me convinced. I've reconstructed my reconstructed memory of the incident.
Seems to me if it had been an adult broad-wing or goshawk, I would have known whether I was looking at a buteo or an accipiter even though I was awestruck by what I saw. Having looked at Peterson's, I see the immature birds are at least superficially similar. I now think what I likely saw was an immature goshawk.
gold bond
10-08-2007, 10:56
Probably and old chicken in disguise!