Ruffed Grouse

August 2012 – Wind River Mountains, WY

Appears to be a Ruffed Grouse to me… these grouse can be difficult to tell apart, but I believe the crest is more apparent in this species.

Blue Grouse

June – 2010 – Rock Mountain Trail, Washington
As I was heading down the Rock Mountain Trail in the Washington Cascades, I heard the familiar “whoop, whoop, whoop” of a grouse. This is a commonly heard sound. However, it’s not common to actually see the bird making it. After a bit of looking, I spotted the culprit, perched on a branch about 20 feet overhead. He wasn’t going full-out with the puffy colorful chest display, just making his presence known…

White-Tailed Ptarmigan

October 2003 – Mt. David trail, Washington
My assumption is that this is a White-Tailed Ptarmigan… only because it’s most likely this is the type of Ptarmigan one would see in the North Cascades. The Rock Ptarmigan has a  more northern range (though, they do overlap in this area). There is some non-white on the edge of the tail, which might lead one to think this could be a Rock Ptarmigan, but when the birds are molting and mottled, it’s hard to draw too many conclusions from details like that.