Food of Maine Ruffed Grouse by Seasons and Cover Types

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Food habits of ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus togata) in Maine were studied from Oct., 1941, to Sept., 1943, to learn the seasonal variations in food and the relationship between foods eaten and food availability; 265 crops were examined, 188 for fall, 47 for winter, 23 for spring, and 7 for summer. Corylus, Trifolium, and Pyrus (apple) were the most important foods in autumn; Populus, Salix and Corylus in winter; Populus, Fragaria, and Betula, in spring. The principal foods taken in each cover type studied were as follows: (a) 2 mixed-growth types[long dash]Populus, Corylus, Trifolium, Salix, and Prunus; (b) upland hardwoods[long dash]Populus, Trifolium, Gaultheria procumbens, Betula, and Corylus; (c) lowland hardwoods[long dash]Populus, Salix, Corylus, Pyrus, and Trifolium; (d) old fields and orchards[long dash]Pyrus (apple), Crataegus, and Rhus. The correlation between availability and usage was highest in old fields and orchards, and lowest where softwood cover predominated. Populus proved to be the most important food on an annual basis, followed by Corylus, Pyrus, and Trifolium, Corylus appears to be of more significance as grouse food in Maine than elsewhere in the northeast.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: