It is easy for hikers to experience three forms of sooty grouse without realizing these are the same species: their distinctive mating calls, the mottled brown females who look very much like chickens, and the colorful display of the males.

Horny males are often heard but not seen. Their mating call is a deep hoot repeated 5 or 6 times in a row: <whump> <whump> <whump> <whump> <whump>. Look around if you hear this, as it's a treat to see the displaying grouse with yellow eyebrow wattles and a yellow throat air sack surrounded by ring of white feathers. Sexy stuff I tell ya! Don't get your hopes up, though, because the source of these calls can be hard to locate. The grouse may be high in a tree, and his whumps can carry half a mile.

Grouse spend most of their time on the ground near the edges of coniferous forests. The effort of flying up a tree is apparently only warranted when trying to impress a female! They can make hikers jump when exploding from cover near the feet of someone who got too close. If babies are near, females will run ahead down the trail trying to lead you away.

What are now known as sooty grouse used to be called blue grouse, but in 2006 the American Ornithologists' Union decided to split that into two species. Sooty grouse live west of the Cascades crest, and dusky grouse on the eastern slopes and Rocky Mountains. They look identical to me though.