Another reason may be that one male's drumming prompts others to drum. This may serve to attract more females. During the breeding season, a female may visit several territories and witness several males drumming before she mates and chooses a sheltered spot for a nest. Leaves and insects are preferred. Older stands of hardwoods, such as aspen or poplar, birch, choke cherry and service berry, supply buds in fall, winter and spring.
Apple trees are favourite autumn feeding spots.
Grouse eat rose hips in midwinter. Limby softwoods growing in open areas provide night-time roosts, shelter from predators and escape from cold winter winds. Nests are built each spring in alder thickets, mixed wood and hardwood stands, and sometimes Christmas tree lots. Cup-shaped nests lined with leaves are built on the ground, often near the base of a tree. May. Newly hatched chicks follow their mother when only a few hours old.