tags: Blue Grouse, Dusky Grouse, Dendragapus obscurus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Blue (Dusky) Grouse, Dendragapus obscurus, photographed in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 18 August 2008 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Ah, yes the typical warm, furry-feathery bias. It's a nice patch (probably a clone) of Equisetum (hymale?). Oh and there's an animal there too.
It's a Dusky Grouse, a female. Fieldmarks include the yellow combs over the eyes and bluish-gray belly.
Also, the location of the bird helps rule out a lot of other grouse. Ruffed Grouse I think is the only overlapping grouse, and they have a distinct white line on either side of the eye.
I knew what it wasn't (Ruffed, Sage, or any prairie grouse), but I had to consult my Sibley to figure it out and I think Andy is right, a female Blue (Dusky) Grouse.