Golden Gate Grouse

Day 361: At the top of the Golden Gate Trail, my botany partners and I were met by a companion who was busily searching for late-season insects among the dry foliage. Now whether this is a Sooty or a Dusky Grouse is up for debate. "Blue Grouse" was split into two separate species in 2006 in an astonishing reversion to the classification used in the early 1900s. "In general," says the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, "the coastal birds are Sooty Grouse and the interior birds are Dusky Grouse," and to further complicate matters, the two species intergrade. The air sacs visible on courting males are red in Dusky, more orange or yellow in Sooty. Females do not share this characteristic, so you must look at the tail. Sooty has a grey band across the tip and generally two fewer feathers in the fan, although these marks are difficult to see unless the bird is displaying. Habitat is another clue to distinguishing one species from another. Sooty prefers forest, Dusky prefers open areas. Range is another hint. If your observation is substantially on one side or the other of a dividing line, you're in luck. However, if you happen to be right at the convergence of the zones, have a female bird whose tail is hidden by the foliage in an alpine meadow not far from timberline, you are pretty much up the infamous creek without your proverbial paddle. This, therefore, is a Golden Gate Grouse. That's my assessment, and I'm sticking with it.