BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Dendragapus obscurus
Dusky Grouse
| Scientific Name: | Dendragapus obscurus (Say, 1822) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Dusky Grouse | ||||||||||
| English Name Synonyms: |
Blue Grouse
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| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 2006. Forty-seventh supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 123(3):1926-936. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | Formerly part of Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus). In 2006 it was split into two species, Dendragapus fuliginosus (Sooty Grouse) and Dendragapus obscurus (Dusky Grouse). |
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| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-DUGR | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4 (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | |||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Breeding begins mid-April in south to late May in north. Female incubates 7-10, sometimes up to 16, eggs for 26 days. Nestlings precocial. Young tended by female. Yearling males often do not breed. May renest if nest destroyed. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Primarily a solitary montane species. Courting males establish a territory. In Colorado, apparently sedentary on winter range (average distance between locations 94-312 m, median 135 m, for 11 radio-marked adults) (Cade and Hoffman 1993). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | May make seasonal upslope-downslope migrations. In Colorado, elevational changes between breeding and wintering sites were up to 671 m (median 488 m) for males, up to 760 m (median 122 m) for females; one-way migration distance was 1-29 km (median 10.5 km) in males, 0.1-28 km (median 1.0 km) for females; males departed breeding areas from late June to late July, females from late May to late September; both arrived in wintering areas from early October to mid-November (Cade and Hoffman 1993). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Facultative - occasional use
Agriculture / Hedgerow / Facultative - occasional use Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - occasional use Alpine/Tundra / Alpine Grassland / Unknown Alpine/Tundra / Alpine/Subalpine Meadow / Unknown Alpine/Tundra / Tundra / Facultative - occasional use Forest / Conifer Forest - Dry / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Mesic (average) / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Moist/wet / Facultative - occasional use Forest / Deciduous/Broadleaf Forest / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Mixed Forest (deciduous/coniferous mix) / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Grassland / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Meadow / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Sagebrush Steppe / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Logged / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Natural / Facultative - frequent use Riparian / Riparian Forest / Facultative - occasional use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Coniferous forest, especially fir, mostly in open situations with a mixture of deciduous trees and shrubs (AOU 1983). Spends winter, usually at higher elevations than summer habitat, in conifer forest of various categories of age and tree density; roosts in large conifers with dense foliage (e.g., Douglas-fir during day, subalpine fir at night, northeastern Utah, Pekins et al. 1991). Nests in montane (mixed or deciduous) forest, also in shrubland in some areas (e.g., southeastern Idaho). Nests on ground under cover of brush, branches, or other vegetation. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Frugivore: Adult, Immature
Granivore: Adult, Immature Herbivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | In summer feeds on a variety of berries, insects, flowers, and leaves. In the winter feeds mainly on needles and buds of conifers (Douglas-fir often important). Also eats waste grain. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 51/ / 1188 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | RESIDENT: southern Yukon and extreme southwestern MacKenzie south through the mountains of interior British Columbia (excepy coast, southwestern, and south-central areas), southwestern Alberta, eastern Washington, and the Rocky Mountains to eastern Nevada, northern and eastern Arizona, (south to White Mountains), southwestern and north-central New Mexico, western and central Colorado, and (formerly) western South Dakota (AOU 1998, 2006). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Apr 11, 1996 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Bergerud, A. T., and M. W. Gratson, editors. 1987. Adaptive strategies and population ecology of northern grouse. Univ. Minnesoat Press. 785 pp. |
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Cade, B. S., and R. W. Hoffman. 1993. Differential migration of blue grouse in Colorado. Auk 110:70-77. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC. |
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Ellsworth, D. L., R. L. Honeycut, and N. J. Silvy. 1995. Phylogenetic relationships among North American grouse inferred from restriction endonuclease analysis of mitochondrial DNA. Condor 97:492-502. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Johnsgard, P.A. 1983b. The grouse of the world. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. xvi + 413 pp. |
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Pekins, P. J., F. G. Lindzey, and J. A. Gessaman. 1991. Physical characteristics of blue grouse winter use-trees and roost sites. Great Basin Nat. 51:244-248. |
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Pelren, E. C. 1996. Blue grouse winter ecology in northeastern Oregon. Ph.D. Dissertation, Oregon State University, Corvallis. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Zwickel, F. C., et al. 1991. Sexual and subspecific variation in the number of rectrices of blue grouse. Can. J. Zool. 69:134-140. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1996. Species Summary: Dendragapus obscurus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Nov 13, 2026).