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