Dendragapus fuliginosus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The sooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus) is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to North America's Pacific Coast Ranges. It is closely related to the dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus), and the two were previously considered a single species, the blue grouse.
Adults have a long square tail, light gray at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a yellow throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow wattle over the eye during display. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts. Females have longer skinnier necks than males. The males have stouter bodies than the females. The bird averages 40–50 cm (16–20 in) in length and weighs 750–1,300 g (1.65–2.87 lb).
Their breeding habitat is the edges of conifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions of western North America, from southeastern Alaska and Yukon south to California. Their range is closely associated with that of various conifers. They thrive in old forests because they need diverse plants and trees. Regenerated logged or burned areas also attract the sooty grouse if there are many bushes and shrubs for nesting. The nest is a scrape... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bali Bird Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Grouse sighting in Yosemite National Park on a given day, based on 586 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 79th most-seen of the 169 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 June–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Grouse in Yosemite National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and November–February, the lowest months. Those are among Yosemite National Park's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 220 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sooty 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.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Sooty Grouse sightings, Yosemite National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Olympic National Park (United States, about 10%) and Redwood National Park (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sooty Grouse is recorded against all the birds logged in Yosemite National Park (586 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.
