[CT Birds] Ruffed Grouse

[David.F.Provencher at dom.com]

I wanted to jump in with a comment or two (despite being at work for the
seventh straight day cranking out a document) because of how much I am
personally saddened by the decline of the drummer of Connecticut's
woodlands.

Ruffed Grouse require a mixture of habitats. Preferably mixed coniferous
and deciduous as well as a healthy mixture of mature and successional. In
CT we generally lack substantial areas of successional (or "reverting")
habitat. It seems we either have lawn or forest with little or no expanse
of successional habitat (brush/sapling mix). Northern Bobwhite habitat
requirements are even more complex and hence the species is now extirpated
as a breeder in CT. Without a real commitment to manage habitat in CT for
Ruffed Grouse the species  will likely remain a very uncommon resident, or
worse.

Dave



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