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Bird

Ruffed Grouse

Bonasa umbellus

Lives in West Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 55 counties, across 10 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
10

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 55 counties
Habitats
10
Habitat models
Year-round

Where it lives

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

Habitats in West Virginia 10

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

1 of 10

Dry forests and woodlands

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

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

Year-roundCentral Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-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

Hemlock forests

Shady, evergreen forests of eastern or Carolina hemlock, often along rocky mountain streams and in gorges.

Year-roundAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest

Moderately dry forests

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

Year-roundNortheastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest

Moist forests

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

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest

Rich cove forests

Sheltered, moist mountain hollows and lower slopes with deep, fertile soil.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest

Spruce-fir forests

Cool, evergreen forests of red spruce and Fraser fir on the highest mountains.

Year-round

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 (41)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in West Virginia.

  • Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Year-round.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
  • North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Year-round.
  • North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Year-round.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Year-round.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
  • Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest Year-round.
  • Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Year-round.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Year-round.
  • Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round, beside its main habitat.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Year-round.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Year-round.

All habitats

Seasons in West Virginia

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 55 counties.

Also found in this habitat

Plants 814

Plants named in NatureServe descriptions of these habitats that grow in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food.

Wildlife 197

Other animals whose habitat models include the same habitats in West Virginia. Not sighting records.

NatureServe Explorer, CC BY 4.0. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources