I agree largely with Dan and Cheryl about grouse habitat. For some
reason, writers about this bird slowly began adopting a party line that
the grouse prefers second-growth timber and clearings as habitat.
        Wheaton, an Ohio bird expert of the third quarter of the nineteenth
century, wrote this in his 'The Birds of Ohio' in 1882: "Common resident
in many localities, rare or absent in others. Breeds. It was formerly
much more numerous and widely distributed than now, but has decreased in
numbers with the rapid clearing away of timbered lands. It is now most
abundant, probably always has been, in the hilly portions of the State,
less frequent or almost exterminated in level woodlands. Very few remain
in the immediate vicinity of Columbus, where, fifteen or twenty years
since, they were not uncommon in some localities. Mr. Langdon gives no
records of its capture in the vicinity of Cincinnati, within this State.
In the Hocking Hills and their continuation northward, and in the hilly
region of Eastern Ohio, they are still common."
        Lynds Jones, in his "The Birds of Ohio," published in 1903 during the
next quarter-century, wrote: "This strictly woods game bird has rapidly
decreased in numbers in the last decade; partly because it has been so
persistently hunted and partly because its breeding haunts have been
destroyed in so many places...It is resident where it occurs at all,
remaining in the deep woods."
        Hicks's "Breeding Birds of Ohio" (1935) ventured the statement that
"This species probably occurred in every county of the state two
centuries ago" and that he had made a special study of the species for
the State. For this work, he stated that the grouse was no longer found
in 46 counties of Ohio, mentioning that "In the swampy forests of the
northwestern part of the state, the Ruffed Grouse were said to have been
so abundant (about 1840 to 1880) that they were killed by the hundreds
and shipped in barrels to Toledo or Detroit."
        A new orthodoxy came to life in later years. Trautman, in his 1940 work
"The Birds of Buckeye Lake," was to write: "The Ruffed Grouse was surely
a numerous species throughout early historic time. The original forests,
with their cover and abundance of berries and other foods, presented a
favorable environment. Later, when the forests were replaced by
brushlands and clearings, conditions should have become more favorable,
and it seems probable that the grouse then became more
numerous than it had been at the advent of the white man. Former market
hunters, old sportsmen, and farmers stated that the species was very
numerous between 1860 and 1870, that it decreased sharply in abundance
between 1875 and 1885, and that by 1890 it had become rare or absent."
He only hinted at the discrepancy that brushlands and clearings failed
to live up to the predictions of a more favorable environment.
        This discrepancy has become accepted since then. In 1966, in his "The
Birds of Canada", Godfrey was to write "Habitat. Mainly second growth
deciduous and mixed woodland, wood edges and openings, alder- and
willow-bordered ravines and stream edges, old orchards. Much less
partial to extensive stands of mature forest, but uses coniferous woods
for shelter."
        This view has become accepted dogma by game managers since then, and
now you will see state agencies touting clear-cutting because it is the
best thing for grouse.
Bill Whan
Cols


On 10/2/2015 8:39 PM, Dan Best wrote:
> In addition to echoing Cheryl's call for protection of old growth
> forest tracts, I also agree that there is lots of young growth forest
> habitat available, at least in the glaciated Allegheny Plateau
> region.  While I used to hear ruffed grouse drumming in Geauga Park
> District when I started working there almost 30 years ago, it's been
> many years since I've heard it and I can count the number of grouse
> sightings in the past 25 years on one hand.  Even though woodlands
> have matured beyond ideal grouse habitat, other old field habitat has
> come into grouse habitat with aspen groves and young growth
> woodlands.  Therefore, I  have never fully subscribed to the
> oft-touted habitat loss explanation for the lack of ruffed grouse.  I
> assert that the extensive nest predation by the over-abundant
> population of raccoons is the foremost reason for the virtual
> disappearance if ruffed grouse, at least in Northeast Ohio.
>
> Dan Best
>
>
> On Oct 2, 2015, at 11:06 AM, Cheryl Harner wrote:
>
>> Birding Friends,
>>
>> Sorry to read of Mark's report and a lack of ruffed grouse in
>> Zaleski.  If successional habitat alone created grouse, Zaleski
>> should be teaming with them.  ODNR even advertises "Excess Lumber
>> For Sale to Public at Zaliseski State Forest" on their Forestry
>> website.
>>
>> There is no shortage of successional habitat* in Ohio.  The private
>> lands which provide the 95% of timber products produced in Ohio are
>> all successional.  Private property owner are certainly encouraged
>> to manage and produce timber products on their lands- if they
>> choose.  However, old-growth habitat is arguably the rarest habitat
>> in Ohio. One would hope our State Forests would be managed for the
>> needs of the future, not as the 1950 models dictate. Let's leave
>> the timbering to private land owners. Ohio needs our contiguous
>> forests to provide for biodiversity- like box turtles and bobcats.
>>
>> Mohican Forest has one small parcel of old-growth trees protected
>> as a State Nature Preserve.  Other lands at Mohican are schedule to
>> be timbered this year.  Timbering will not help Mohican's tourist
>> base. Those successional lands created by timbering will not
>> produce grouse either, as we have not seen a grouse in Mohican for
>> at least 20 years.
>>
>> This year Hocking Hills' Forest came very close to losing a large
>> old stand of oaks and mixed hardwoods to the saw.  However, the
>> Hocking Hills Tourism Association challenged Forestry's idea of
>> management and the timbering is on hold for a year.  Tourists now
>> have a little time to go and enjoy a last view of these trees, in
>> case Forestry decides to follow through with the cut next year.
>>
>> Ohio Ornithological Society (the owner of this list-serv) as well
>> as Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Mohican Advocates, Ohio
>> Environmental Council, Flora-Quest and North Central Ohio Land
>> Conservancy have been joined by the Hocking Hill Tourism
>> Association in calling for rededicating Ohio's State Forestry
>> System.
>>
>> If you are under the mistaken assumption that Ohio's Division of
>> Forestry is strictly protecting forests lands, you need to know
>> O.D.F. is timbering them, too.   Let's find better ways of raising
>> funds for local schools and fire departments than cutting down our
>> natural heritage for a short term profit.  The tourism tax dollars
>> in Ohio's most visited State Forests far out produces timbering as
>> an economic driver.
>>
>> "Hugging" our old trees makes good economic sense and drives
>> eco-tourism commerce.  More importantly to this list-serv, the
>> birds like trees too. Nature will provide for natural succession,
>> it always has.
>>
>> Cheryl Harner OOS Conservation Chair
>>
>> *Seen today in my succession sub-urban yard:  Northern Cardinals,
>> Tufted Titmice, Downey Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch,
>> American Robins, American Goldfinches and others.
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Marc Behrendt Sent: Friday,
>> October 02, 2015 9:39 AM To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: [Ohio-birds] ruffed grouse
>>
>> As a follow up for ruffed grouse reports, I spent Sunday, Sept 27
>> in Zaleski State Forest, and did not hear any drumming, nor did I
>> flush any birds. I remember "the old days" when grouse were
>> common.
>>
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