Nature on Trail

A field guide to plants and critters in Washington: Washington's wild country is home to a rich diversity of wildlife, wildflowers, plants and geology. In this section, you'll find articles written by WTA members about everything from pikas to larches. You'll learn about habitat, ecology and suggested hikes for best observation.

A field guide to plants and critters in Washington.

Washington's wild country is home to a rich diversity of wildlife, wildflowers, plants and geology. In this section, you'll find articles written by WTA members about everything from pikas to larches. You'll learn about habitat, ecology and suggested hikes for best observation.

Click here for an alphabetical list of Nature on Trail entries.

| Birds | Flowers & Plants | Mammals | Aquatic Life |

This Month's Feature:

Sooty Grouse

By Alan L. Bauer

Meet the Sooty Grouse

Or, should we say, the wild chickens formerly known as blue grouse.

For some, the sight of a squat, brown-feathered, chicken-sized bird walking about in the mountains could appear to be a “wild chicken” sighting. But chickens roaming the Cascades!? Nah! As I’m sure many of you have guessed, these birds are grouse. In Washington, we have ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, blue grouse, and even sharp-tailed and sage grouse in the sage desert lands of Central Washington. Let’s take a closer look at one particular species...

>> Read the rest of the article about Sooty Grouse...