Many galliform birds (heavy bodied, ground feeding, chicken like birds) “strut” as part of their territorial and courtship rituals. Perhaps the wild turkey and the pea fowl, with their large, fanned tails, are the most familiar strutters, but ruffed grouse strut their stuff, too. On a well chosen log, a male ruffed grouse drums to advertise his presence, and if another grouse approaches, the resident male walks back and forth on the log while fanning his tail and fluffing up the dark ruff on his neck. He may shake his head or bow every now and again to accentuate the ruff. An expanded crescent of red tissue above each eye, called a comb, is also part of the show. If the other bird is an intruding male, they may fight. If it is a visiting female, they may mate.

The video below was captured by a trail camera with a standard lens, not a close-focus lens as in my previous posts on this species, because I wanted a wide view to capture the strutting. Watch carefully: At the beginning of the video the combs are visible and there are a couple of instances of head shaking.

Why the elaborate drumming and strutting rituals? Perhaps they communicate the bird’s health. After all, displaying in this way many times per day throughout the breeding season is energy intensive, and any male who can keep it up and still sport beautiful plumage must be in good shape. An intruding male would be less likely to tangle with him, and a female in search of a mate might just find him compelling.