Dendragapus obscurus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is closely related to the sooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus), and the two were previously considered a single species, the blue grouse.
Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a purplish throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow to red wattle over the eye during display. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.
Males are larger than females, with a male mean body mass of 1.21 kg (2.67 lbs.) compared to a mean 0.91 kg (2.01 lbs.) in females. The breeding habitat of the dusky grouse is the edges of conifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions of western North America, from southeastern Alaska and Yukon south to New Mexico. Their range is closely associated with that of various conifers. Their nest is a scrape on the ground concealed under a shrub or log. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Grouse sighting in Glacier National Park on a given day, based on 281 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 104th most-seen of the 174 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August to October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Grouse in Glacier National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to July, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dusky Grouse sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Dusky Grouse sightings, Glacier National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Yellowstone National Park (United States, about 10%) and Grand Teton National Park (United States, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dusky Grouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Glacier National Park (281 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
