New York Status: Endangered
Federal Status: Not Listed
Description
Spruce grouse are a smaller, darker cousin of the ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). Nicknamed "fool hen" for its lack of fear of humans, spruce grouse allow humans to approach within a few feet before flying. They apparently depend on their protective coloration to conceal them. Measuring 15-17 inches in length, the male is black on the upper breast and throat, has a brown or blackish tail tipped with chestnut, white-tipped undertail coverts (set of feathers that cover feathers beneath), a finely barred gray and black rump, and a crimson comb above each eye. The female is brown overall with black barring. She also has the chestnut terminal tailband. Feathering on both sexes extends to the base of the toes.
The diet of the spruce grouse includes:
- needles and buds from coniferous trees (e.g. spruce, jack pine, fir, larch) primarily during the winter
- berries
- seeds
- mushrooms
- leaves
- insects
Life History
Males of this species are polygynous (mate with several females). Females defend their own nesting territories from other females and take on all of the parental duties. The male displays away from the nesting areas to females moving through his territory. His display consists of strutting, tail-spreading, and periodic short flights with exaggerated wing beats. The females build a nest of twigs, grasses, and leaves in a shallow depression beneath low hanging branches or beside a fallen tree. A clutch of four to seven eggs is incubated for 17-24 days. The young are precocial (born at an advanced state) and fledge in only 10 days.
Distribution and Habitat
Spruce grouse range across northern North America in the area generally congruent with the coniferous boreal forests. The limit of trees at the edge of the tundra is the northern edge of their range. The southern edge of their range occurs where coniferous forests dip into the northern United States in New England, New York, the northern Midwest, and the Northwest. In New York, the population is concentrated where Franklin and St. Lawrence counties meet in the Adirondack Foothills.
Spruce grouse prefer early to mid-successional stage coniferous forests of primarily spruce, tamarack and balsam fir, especially with an understory of blueberries and other plants in the Ericaceae family, with scattered openings of a few hundred square feet. Low, wetland areas are preferred as well. Occupied forest stands are on average, approximately 44-49 years old with a substantial component of coniferous (mainly black spruce) trees and ericaceous shrubs. These habitats support a mosaic of dense shrub cover for foraging, nesting and shelter, interspersed with pockets of sedge and moss ground cover used for courtship and foraging. Live tree foliage in the 0.2-1.0 m range of the vertical strata is also an important habitat component, providing nest concealment and protection for broods.
Status
In the late 1800s, this species was quite common in Herkimer, Hamilton, and Franklin counties. Today, populations remaining in the Adirondack Mountains are fragmented and sparse. The reduction and fragmentation of spruce-fir forests in the Adirondacks (45 to 50 percent) due to historical logging and the maturation of remnant stands is probably most responsible for decline of this species.
Factors currently limiting spruce grouse populations in New York State include:
- the distance between patches of suitable habitat and the absence of potential movement corridors between these patches
- reduction in occupied habitat quality due to natural succession of lowland boreal plant communities
- small population size.
Currently, the greatest threat to spruce grouse persistence in New York is the reduction in habitat quantity and quality due to coniferous forest maturation and the spatial distribution of remaining occupied sites and suitable habitat across the landscape.
Accidental shooting of female spruce grouse by hunters also poses a threat to survival of small and disjunct populations. The ease with which this bird can be killed most likely had an impact on the population size. Development and settlement in previously unpopulated areas and flooding of large wetland areas to create lakes and reservoirs also played important roles, as did habitat loss due to selective logging of softwoods and interspecific competition with the ruffed grouse.
Researchers at the State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, who have been monitoring spruce grouse populations since the mid 1970s, estimate the state breeding population at 175-315 individuals. The precarious nature of populations within the Adirondacks has led to the formation in 1992 of the Spruce Grouse Recovery Team by the DEC. The goal of this team is to ensure the long term survival of viable populations of spruce grouse and their associated boreal forest community in New York.
Another factor that may influence spruce grouse distribution is climate change. It is difficult to predict the extent rising temperatures will have on their populations, but shorter winters and reduced snow cover may have an impact on their lowland boreal habitat.
Management and Research Needs
DEC staff have been making progress on restoring the population of spruce grouse in New York by translocating birds from Canada and Maine and working with private landowners to manage habitat. In August 2025, DEC translocated 50 adult spruce grouse from Cochrane, Ontario into the Adirondack Park, concluding our multi-year translocation efforts. DEC staff captured spruce grouse using catch poles, then birds were fed and housed in screen tents until grouse were released in selected sites in New York the following week. The goal of translocations is twofold: to improve genetic diversity of the remaining population and to boost numbers so that birds can find each other to breed. We are hopeful these translocated grouse will bring much needed genetic diversity into the New York population. We are also continuing our partnership with private landowners to manage habitat to improve conditions for spruce grouse population persistence. These efforts will continue into the future to ensure that spruce grouse have enough habitat to maintain their population.
Watch a short video of Spruce Grouse releases in the Adirondacks!
