What is commonly mistaken as a partridge, a prairie chicken or a small pheasant is actually a ruffed grouse, a bird species found between the southeastern and northwestern forests of Minnesota. Living amongst aspens, the ruffed grouse has been extensively studied by the University of Minnesota over the last 70 years.

As a part of this study, we obtained the papers of researcher and professor of wildlife management, Gordon Gullion, in January of 2021, from the Cloquet Forestry Center. His material is the first out of the 30 collections being processed through this project and of which, we learn more on his research and management of the ruffed grouse.

Like mentioned, the ruffed grouse can be easily mistaken for other bird species, and even amongst its own kind, such as a sharp-tail grouse, spruce grouse, or sooty grouse, just to name a few. It is through wing and feather data that many of these grouse species differ and what make each individual grouse unique.

Gullion relied on collecting wing and tail data sets, including color phase and measurements, to provide information on the species’ population in that area. The ruffed grouse has five color phases, which are gray, red, intermediate, brow and split, and can be determined on their tail feathers.

Among this data set found within Gullion’s papers, an example of dyed tail feathers were also found. This has yet to be recognized as a method within Gullion’s studies; however, marking the grouse’s feathers for visual identification has been a popular method since the early 1930s.

Ultimately, for the study of ruffed grouse, feathers have a major impact on identification and providing data on each individual bird. This will prove true as more research data sets are identified when completing the processing of the Gordon Gullion papers.