States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaArkansasFloridaLouisianaMississippiVirginiaWest Virginia
Menu

Bird

Ruffed Grouse

Bonasa umbellus

Lives in Arkansas all year and nests here. Found in 7 of 75 counties, across 9 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
7 of 75 counties
Habitats
9

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
7 of 75 counties
Habitats
9
Habitat models
Year-round

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Arkansas 9

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 9

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Year-roundOzark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland; Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland; Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Year-roundSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain; Ozark-Ouachita Riparian

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

Year-roundCentral Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens

Granite and other acidic rock outcrops

Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.

Year-roundCentral Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Year-roundOzark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

Year-roundOzark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

Year-roundDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Year-roundBeside its main habitat.Pasture/Hay; Utility Swath - Herbaceous
Other habitats in its models (46)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.

In Arkansas 1

  • Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (18)
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Year-round.
  • Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
  • Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Year-round.
  • South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Year-round.
  • Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Year-round.
Northeast (8)
  • Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Midwest (4)
  • North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Year-round.
  • North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (15)
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round, beside its main habitat.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.

All habitats

Seasons in Arkansas

  • Year-round: nests here, in 7 of 75 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 460

Plant genera in its diet records (73)
  • Rosa Fruit and leaves. 52 diet records. 5 native plants in Arkansas
  • Rhus Fruit. 46 diet records. 6 native plants in Arkansas
  • Cornus Fruit. 36 diet records. 4 native plants in Arkansas
  • Populus Buds and leaves. 34 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Quercus Seeds and fruit. 34 diet records. 31 native plants in Arkansas
  • Corylus Flowers and fruit. 30 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Amelanchier Fruit. 26 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Ostrya 26 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Acer Fruit and buds. 25 diet records. 13 native plants in Arkansas
  • Carex Seeds and fruit. 25 diet records. 144 native plants in Arkansas
  • Geum Fruit. 24 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Desmodium 23 diet records. 18 native plants in Arkansas
  • Trifolium Leaves. 22 diet records. 4 native plants in Arkansas
  • Polystichum Leaves. 21 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Salix Buds and leaves. 20 diet records. 6 native plants in Arkansas
  • Cuscuta 18 diet records. 9 native plants in Arkansas
  • Vitis Fruit and leaves. 18 diet records. 12 native plants in Arkansas
  • Antennaria 17 diet records. 5 native plants in Arkansas
  • Symphoricarpos Fruit. 17 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Betula Buds and fruit. 15 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Toxicodendron 15 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
  • Vaccinium Fruit and leaves. 14 diet records. 7 native plants in Arkansas
  • Viburnum Fruit. 13 diet records. 9 native plants in Arkansas
  • Viola Fruit and leaves. 13 diet records. 17 native plants in Arkansas
  • Gaultheria Fruit and leaves. 12 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Zea 11 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Prunus Seeds and buds. 10 diet records. 13 native plants in Arkansas
  • Shepherdia Buds. 10 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Kummerowia 9 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Rubus Fruit. 9 diet records. 9 native plants in Arkansas
  • Fragaria Leaves. 8 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Crataegus Fruit and buds. 7 diet records. 22 native plants in Arkansas
  • Malus Fruit and leaves. 7 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Potentilla Leaves. 7 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Smilax Fruit and leaves. 7 diet records. 13 native plants in Arkansas
  • Hieracium 6 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Kalmia Leaves and buds. 6 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Aster Leaves. 5 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Carpinus 5 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Fagus Buds and fruit. 5 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Lonicera Leaves and fruit. 5 diet records. 4 native plants in Arkansas
  • Thalictrum 5 diet records. 5 native plants in Arkansas
  • Ulmus 5 diet records. 6 native plants in Arkansas
  • Arctostaphylos Fruit. 4 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Celastrus Fruit. 4 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Heuchera Leaves. 4 diet records. 4 native plants in Arkansas
  • Ilex Fruit. 4 diet records. 8 native plants in Arkansas
  • Rumex 4 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
  • Alnus Buds and flowers. 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Botrychium Leaves. 3 diet records. 4 native plants in Arkansas
  • Impatiens 3 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
  • Maianthemum Fruit. 3 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Pyrola Leaves. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Ranunculus 3 diet records. 14 native plants in Arkansas
  • Sambucus 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Arceuthobium Buds. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Arctous Fruit. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Berberis Fruit. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Coptis 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Epigaea Leaves and fruit. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Equisetum Leaves. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Arkansas
  • Mitella Leaves. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Arkansas
  • Oxalis 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Rhododendron Buds and fruit. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Taraxacum Leaves. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Tiarella Leaves. 2 diet records. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Dryopteris Leaves. 1 diet record. 7 native plants in Arkansas
  • Hamamelis Fruit. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Arkansas
  • Nyssa Fruit. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Arkansas
  • Polygala 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Arkansas
  • Polygonum 1 diet record. 5 native plants in Arkansas
  • Thelypteris 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Arkansas
  • Vicia Seeds. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Arkansas

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 97

Plants 313

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Arkansas

Dry forests and woodlands

Birds 36

Plants 152

All of dry forests and woodlands in Arkansas

Tree plantations and managed pine

Birds 44

Plants 1

All of tree plantations and managed pine in Arkansas

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources