Sooty Grouse - Cypress Mountain, BC
On a recent tour I gave of our local mountains, we came upon a Sooty grouse and her three chicks just in from Bowen Lookout. She was watching from a lookout in a Hemlock tree and when she felt the coast was clear, she softly 'chucked' and on queue, the three young grouse walked out onto the path, where she led them down the hill. The mating call of this bird is tremendously low pitched so that the sound caries between the mountain tops and valleys. The male of this species is very dark indeed making this female look quite light.