Audubon’s Ruffed Grouse

John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.
John James Audubon, The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories., New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.

John James Audubon’s Birds of America described the ruffed grouse as inhabiting a range encompassing the “Middle States” from Kentucky and Tennessee in the south to the Ohio and Susquehanna River valleys in the north. Perhaps owing to Pennsylvania’s hunting tradition, the ruffed grouse was adopted as its state bird in 1931. In October 2019, the National Audubon Society warned that further atmospheric warming from climate change would shift ruffed grouse habitat out of the lower 48 states entirely.

John James Audubon
The birds of America from drawings made in the United States and their territories.
New York: J. J. Audubon, 1840-44.

CO2 PPM, 1840-1844: 284-285.5

Additional Information

To learn more about the impact of climate change on birdlife, read the Audubon Society’s report, “Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink.“