Years ago, hiking in the Hudson Highlands of NY, I had my own encounter
with a bold grouse. I was with a friend and noticed it on the trailside as
we were hiking by, and since it didn't seem spooked, I got low down with my
point-and-shoot camera for a photo. It walked up to me and pecked my hand!
We were miles away from the nearest road, so it most definitely was not
habituated to human presence. A few photos, including just before the
"peck", are in the links below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/27953043@N08/2600648471/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27953043@N08/4411418000/

Good birding,
Larry

On Sat, Jan 9, 2021 at 7:57 AM Maeve Kim <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> In the fall, young grouse that have been kicked out of their family coveys
> sometimes adopt humans for a while. This can continue until the next mating
> season reminds them to act like adults.
> Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
>
> > On Jan 8, 2021, at 7:42 PM, Jim Mead <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Hello all,
> >
>
>
>
>                                    A neighbor who was out x-country skiing
> with her family, sent me a text and photo at 4:47 p.m. wondering what this
> bird was. I told her that it was a Ruffed Grouse. I asked her where she was
> and then went there and saw it along with her husband and 2 children. She
> said that it kept following them and at one point, it was standing on her
> ski. When I first saw the bird it was standing next to her husband. When
> the bird saw me, it came right over, stood and faced me. After a few
> minutes it flew up and “sort of” aggressively attacked my thigh. I’m not
> sure about the behavior it was exhibiting but my guess is that we were in
> its’ territory and it was defending it. After we got back to our vehicles,
> we all saw it fly along the road and back into the tree line. It probably
> flew about 100 yards. This bird did not appear to be ill. It actually
> looked quite healthy. We simply walked away from it and left it alone. What
> an incredible family experience!!! I felt quite fortunate to have been able
> to share it with all of them.
> >
> > Enjoy Birds,
> >
> > Jim Mead
>