Bonasa umbellus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is not migratory. It is the only species in the genus Bonasa. The ruffed grouse is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "partridge", an unrelated phasianid, and occasionally confused with the grey partridge, a bird of open areas rather than woodlands.
The ruffed grouse is the state game bird of Pennsylvania, United States. Bonasa umbellus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1766 12th edition of Systema Naturae. He classified it as Tetrao umbellus, placing it in a subfamily with Eurasian grouse. The genus Bonasa was applied by British naturalist John Francis Stephens in 1819. Ruffed grouse is the preferred common name because it applies only to this species. Misleading vernacular names abound, however, and it is often called partridge (sometimes rendered pa'tridge, or shortened to pat), pheasant, or prairie chicken, all of which are properly applied to other birds. Other nicknames for ruffed grouse include drummer or thunder-chicken.
The ruffed grouse has 13... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Voyageurs National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Wood Buffalo National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 11 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 15 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 17 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 19 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbian Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Ruffed Grouse sighting in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, based on 18 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 76th most-seen of the 93 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Ruffed Grouse in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April and June–August, the lowest months. October to January have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ruffed Grouse sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 21
Of the 21 parks where we can rate Ruffed Grouse sightings, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 20%), Voyageurs National Park (United States, about 20%) and Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 20%).
Same family: Phasianidae
The closest relatives of the Ruffed Grouse that you can see in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (family Phasianidae, Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies) are American Spruce Grouse (about 30%) and Sharp-tailed Grouse (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ruffed Grouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (18 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.
