Spatial Patterns of Yearling Male Blue Grouse and Their Relation to Recruitment into the Breeding Population

Abstract
Movements of yearling male Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) were monitored by radio telemetry during the springs of 1980 and 1981, on Hardwicke Island, British Columbia. The locations of the birds were clumped around territories of adult males. Most birds were associated with a few occupied territories, others settled near vacant sites that had been used as territories in previous years, and a few moved widely over the breeding range. Some territories attracted more yearlings than others. Presumed costs and benefits that may be associated with different types of spatial patterns of yearling males are discussed.