Sooty Grouse
Learn to identify the Sooty Grouse by ear. Master the "hoo... hoo... hoo-hoop" phrase and tell it apart from similar species.
What the Sooty Grouse sounds like
A deep, low series of hollow hoots given by displaying males, often from a conifer branch. The sound can seem ventriloquial, as if the whole forest is softly booming.
How to tell it apart
Where you'll hear it
It lives year-round in the Pacific coast ranges, Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and nearby western mountains from southeastern Alaska to California. Many birds move up or down slope with the seasons instead of migrating long distances.
Look for it in conifer forests, woodland edges, brushy mountain slopes, and openings near cover. It favors places with a mix of trees, berries, and quiet ground to forage on.
Spring is the best time to notice them, when males hoot from branches at dawn and show off swollen neck sacs. In summer and fall they skulk on the ground, and in winter they often loaf high in evergreens, nearly invisible.
How to recognize it by sight
A big, chunky forest grouse of western mountains, the Sooty Grouse often melts into the shadows until it suddenly blasts up from underfoot with a startling whir. In spring, males perch in conifers and send deep, hollow hoots rolling through the woods.
Similar species
Dusky Grouse
Usually found farther inland and on the east side of major mountain ranges where ranges approach.
Ruffed Grouse
Smaller and shorter-tailed, with a more rounded tail and obvious dark subterminal tail band.
Spruce Grouse
Smaller and more compact, often in boreal forest rather than Pacific mountain forest.