Sooty Grouse Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesSooty Grouse
Male
Chickenlike bird with a long, dark tail tipped in light gray. Plumage is darker overall than Dusky Grouse. Males expose bare yellow throat patches during courtship displays.
© Blair Dudeck / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, May 09, 2020Female
Chickenlike bird with a small head and long tail. Females are speckled in brown and black with a dark tail.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryWashington, July 31, 2015Juvenile
Chickenlike bird with a small head. Juveniles look like females.
© Alex Lamoreaux / Macaulay LibraryWashington, July 31, 2015Male
Chickenlike bird with a long, dark tail tipped in light gray. Plumage is darker overall than Dusky Grouse.
© Noah Strycker / Macaulay LibraryOregon, April 04, 2020Adult
Individuals in the Sierra Nevada of California are paler gray overall than individuals elsewhere.
© Matthew Grube / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 15, 2013Similar SpeciesDusky Grouse
Female
Dusky Grouse occur mainly in the Rocky Mountains of North America; they have very little range overlap with Sooty Grouse. Females are very difficult to tell apart in the field.
© Angus Wilson / Macaulay LibraryColorado, May 22, 2016Similar SpeciesDusky Grouse
Male
Dusky and Sooty Grouse have very little range overlap. Displaying Dusky Grouse have pink to purple patches of skin on their necks; these are yellow in Sooty Grouse over most of their range.
© Chris Wood / Macaulay LibraryColorado, April 07, 2004Similar SpeciesDusky Grouse
Male
Dusky and Sooty Grouse ranges overlap mainly in British Columbia. Dusky Grouse in this area usually have all-dark tail feathers, lacking the gray tips that Sooty Grouse (and Dusky Grouse from farther Colorado and Utah) show.
© Brian Wesley / Macaulay LibraryBritish Columbia, May 03, 2017Similar SpeciesSpruce Grouse
Female
Spruce Grouse are smaller with shorter tails than Sooty Grouse. They have more white and stronger barring on the breast and belly.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryAlaska, May 20, 2012Similar SpeciesSpruce Grouse
Male
Male Spruce Grouse are mostly black with bold white stripes or spots on the breast and belly, whereas Sooty Grouse are a more uniform dark gray. Spruce has red eyebrows; Sooty's are yellow.
© Luke Seitz / Macaulay LibraryMaine, May 09, 2011Similar SpeciesRuffed Grouse
Adult
Ruffed Grouse are smaller than Sooty Grouse, with a short peaked crest. They have dark bars on their whitish sides and belly, unlike Sooty's more uniform gray color.
© Alix d'Entremont / Macaulay LibraryNova Scotia, April 06, 2013Similar SpeciesRuffed Grouse
Male
Ruffed Grouse are smaller than Sooty Grouse, and they have a light tail with a dark band near the tip. Displaying males have a fluffy black "ruff" on the neck, unlike displaying Sooty's bare yellow (or purple) skin surrounded by white feather bases.
© Lucas Bobay / Macaulay LibraryMinnesota, March 05, 2017Compare with Similar Species
Click on an image to compare
Species in This Family
Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies(Order: Galliformes, Family: Phasianidae)
More to Read
Don't miss a thing! Join our email list
The Cornell Lab will send you updates about birds,
birding, and opportunities to help bird conservation.