Every evening, all over Northern Ontario, this scene plays out: roly-poly ruffed grouse walk a tightwire in the tops of birch trees.
How these chunky gamebirds that weigh a couple of pounds can keep their balance on tiny little twigs high in the sky is amazing.
Even landing up there is a bit of a trick. Grouse, or partridge as they are known in Northwestern Ontario, aren't the most agile of fliers. They are more guided rockets than songbirds.
What lures them to perform their death-defying act are white birch catkins. These clumps of seeds remain on the birches until spring.
Other winter foods of the grouse are wild rose hips (seed pods), berries and seeds of just about any kind.
In the summer partridge eat lots of green leaves, like clover, bugs and just about anything, it seems.
Spruce grouse eat spruce needles! Talk about a never-ending supply of food!
Ruffed grouse only spend about 30 minutes getting their late-evening birch snack, then they plummet down into the snow -- if there's enough of it on the ground -- burrow in and spend the night where it's much warmer than above the snow.
This year there is precious little snow anywhere in Northern Ontario. So, the grouse have no choice but to fluff-up and sit on the ground or in a tree like a balsam that is a thick mass of branches.
Fortunately, it also hasn't been very cold most of this winter.
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