Studies on the biology of ruffed grouse in the southern Appalachian Mountains

Carcasses of 268 ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) donated from 1983-88 by hunters in eastern Tennessee were studied to characterize helminth parasitism, age and sex criteria, and gonadal activity. Though 6 helminth taxa were found, only Heterakis bonasae (81 % prevalence, 62 worms/host) and Echinolepis carioca (27 %, 30 worms) were present in numbers sufficient for analysis. Prevalence of both species was adequately predicted by age and sex of host. Host condition, and region, year, and month of collection also influenced prevalence of both species, as well as intensity of H. bonasae infection. Quantitative age criteria were unreliable, with misclassification rates of 20 - 39 %. Qualitative age characters performed marginally, and were unusable in 7 - 58 % of the sample. Most sex criteria gave satisfactory results. Gonads of both sexes began enlarging in February. Though spermatids were present by late February, no functional gametes were found in either sex. Low parasite diversity, poor reliability of age criteria, and early onset of gametogenesis are reflections of the sampled population's position at the southeastern edge of ruffed grouse range.