There are few published observations regarding the phenomenon of mycophagy in birds, the Ruffed Grouse being no exception. Twenty hunter-killed Ruffed Grouse crops were acquired in the Thunder Bay District from 22 September to 18 October, 2010, and examined for the presence of consumed fungal tissue. Four crops were found to contain intact remains of fruiting bodies. Based on cystidia and spore morphological characters, the specimens recovered were found to belong to three genera: Lactarius, Russula, and Melanoleuca. The results of this brief survey suggest the possible importance of mycophagy in the seasonal diet of the Ruffed Grouse, and indicate the need for further investigation

Hutchison, Leonard J.

Tanney, Joey B.

English

The Canadian Field-Naturalist (E-Journal)

72 THE CANADIAN FIELD-NATURALIST Vol. 125The Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus L.) is one ofthe most important game birds across its North Amer-ican range (Rusch et al. 2000; Fearer and Stauffer2003). Consequently, many studies have investigatedthe seasonal variation and composition of the RuffedGrouse diet in various localities (e.g., Gilfillan andBezdek 1944; Korschgen 1966; King 1969; Staffordand Dimmick 1979; Norman and Kirkpatrick 1984;Servello and Kirkpatrick 1989; Sedinger 1997). Anoticeable gap in the literature is the lack of informa-tion pertaining to the use of fungal fruiting bodies bythe Ruffed Grouse, most attention being paid to theconsumption of plant material including herbaceousplants, berries, and reproductive buds. The few publi-cations which include nominal observations of my -cophagy in Ruffed Grouse ultimately ignore the pos-sible significance of fungi in their diet.Brown (1946) reported gilled mushrooms (Agari-cales) in 5 (2.6%) out of a total 188 crops obtained inMaine during a fall season. Based on a survey of 34crops and gizzards collected in Maine in October, Kit-tams (1943) found that fungi composed 2.4% of thetotal food groups observed. In a similar study, 1 (2.0%)out of 49 crops collected in interior Alaska during thefall contained Basidiomycete mushrooms (McGowan1973). Conversely, Stewart (1956) found that gilledmushrooms were consumed in fair quantities by RuffedGrouse chicks in the late summer. These occurrencesof mycophagy in the summer and fall seasons offerevidence of the possible importance of mushrooms asa seasonal food. However, none of these studies actu-ally identified the mushrooms to genus found in thedigestive tracts, contributing to the ambiguity sur-rounding fruiting body selection by Ruffed Grouse.From 22 September to 18 October, 2010, twentyhunter-killed Ruffed Grouse crops were acquired inthe Thunder Bay District (northwestern Ontario) andexamined for the presence of consumed fungal tissue.Four crops (20%) were found to contain intact remainsof fruiting bodies, which were subsequently collectedand preserved in vials containing 70% ethanol. Gilltissue was mounted in various dyes, including Melzer’sreagent, Phloxine B (1% aqueous solution), and lac-tophenol cotton blue, to facilitate identification basedon spore and fruiting body morphology. Specimenswere viewed with a Nikon Eclipse E400 phase contrastcompound light microscope and measurements weremade on material mounted in Phloxine B.The four fruiting bodies recovered belonged to threegenera (Table 1). Identification to species was not pos-sible based on the available tissue or microscopic char-acters alone; however, the two Russula specimens wererepresented by two distinct species. Members of theRussulaceae were distinguished by amyloid reticulateor wart ornamented basidiospores and cystidial mor-phology (Kränzlin 2005). The Lactarius specimen borenumerous lactiferous hyphae in the hymenium. Cys-tidial morphology and verrucose ornamentation onamyloid basidiospores aided in the identification of theMelanoleuca specimen (Gillman and Miller 1977).Fungal material found in crops consisted of hymeniaor gill tissue, with very little pileus or stipe tissue ob -served. This suggests the preferential feeding on gillsrather than the consumption of entire fruiting bodies.The hymenium may be the most nutritious portion ofthe fruiting body due to the presence of relatively nitro -gen-rich spores. Picking at the gills may also be easierthan attempting to break whole caps for consumption.A Brief Survey of Mycophagy in Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus,from Northwestern OntarioJOEY B. TANNEY1 and LEONARD J. HUTCHISON11 Faculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1 Cana-da; e-mail: jtanney@lakeheadu.ca.Tanney, Joey B., and Leonard J. Hutchison. 2011. A brief survey of mycophagy in Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus, fromnorthwestern Ontario. Canadian Field-Naturalist 125(1): 72–73.There are few published observations regarding the phenomenon of mycophagy in birds, the Ruffed Grouse being no excep-tion. Twenty hunter-killed Ruffed Grouse crops were acquired in the Thunder Bay District from 22 September to 18 Octo-ber, 2010, and examined for the presence of consumed fungal tissue. Four crops were found to contain intact remains offruiting bodies. Based on cystidia and spore morphological characters, the specimens recovered were found to belong tothree genera: Lactarius, Russula, and Melanoleuca. The results of this brief survey suggest the possible importance ofmycophagy in the seasonal diet of the Ruffed Grouse, and indicate the need for further investigation.Key Words: Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus, mushrooms, Lactarius, Russula, Melanoleuca, Ontario.TABLE 1. Fruiting bodies collected from Ruffed Grouse cropsin the Thunder Bay District of northwestern Ontario.Genus Incidence (# crops) Date CollectedLactarius 1 01/10/2010Melanoleuca 1 22/09/2010Russula sp. 1 1 08/10/2010Russula sp. 2 1 14/10/20102011 NOTES 73Despite the small sample size and inherent limita-tions involved with investigating diet composition basedon crop analyses, which only represent recent feed-ings, it is evident that Ruffed Grouse in northwesternOntario utilize fungi as a source of food in the fall sea -son. When leafy plant tissue and berries become scarcein the fall, mushrooms may offer a high carbohydrateand protein source in a diet which is being replacedwith lower-energy, fibrous foods (e.g., Lundgren 2009). Reports of avian mycophagy are relatively scarce(Simpson 1998; Simpson 2000). Although this mayreflect the actual rarity of this phenomenon, it couldpossibly be attributed to a lack of expertise in identify-ing fungi by researchers. Being able to recognize fun-gal tissue in gut contents and collaborating with myco -logists may assist in the elucidation of mycophagy inbirds, which may be more common than previouslythought. We believe this note represents the first workidentifying fungal genera consumed by Ruffed Grouse.Further work should include a larger sample size,longer sample period and the use of molecular tech-niques to more precisely identify the fungal diet com-position. Investigating the effect of digestive tract pas-sage on spore viability may also provide insight on therole of birds as possible spore dispersal vectors.Literature CitedBrown, C. P. 1946. Food of Maine Ruffed Grouse by seasonsand cover types. Journal of Wildlife Management 10: 17-28.Fearer, T. M., and D. F. Stauffer. 2003. Relationship ofRuffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) home range size to land-scape characteristics. American Midland Naturalist 150:104-114.Gilfillan, M. C., and H. Bezdek. 1944. Winter foods of theRuffed Grouse in Ohio. Journal of Wildlife Management8: 208-210.Gillman, L. S., and O. K. Miller. 1977. A study of the boreal,alpine, and arctic species of Melanoleuca. Mycologia 69:927-951.King, R. D. 1969. Spring and summer foods of Ruffed Grouseon Vancouver Island. Journal of Wildlife Management 33:440-442.Kittams, W. H. 1943. Foods of Ruffed Grouse in Maine.Journal of Wildlife Management 7: 231-233.Korschgen, L. J. 1966. Foods and nutrition of Ruffed Grousein Missouri. Journal of Wildlife Management 30: 86-100.Kränzlin, F. 2005. Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 6. Russu-laceae. Verlag Mykologia, Luzern, Switzerland.Lundgren, J. G. 2009. Relationships of Natural Enemies andNon-Prey Foods. Progress in Biological Control. Volume7. Springer Verlag, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. [pages243-258].McGowan, J. D. 1973. Fall and winter foods of RuffedGrouse in interior Alaska. The Auk 90: 636-640.Norman, G.W., and R. L. Kirkpatrick. 1984. Foods, nutri-tion, and condition of Ruffed Grouse in southwesternVirginia. Journal of Wildlife Management 48: 183-187.Rusch, D. H., Destefano, M. C. Reynolds, and D. Lauten.2000. Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus in The Birds ofNorth America number 515. Edited by A. Poole and F. Gill.The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsyl-vania.Sedinger, J. S. 1997. Adaptations to and consequences of anherbivorous diet in grouse and waterfowl. The Condor 99:314-326.Servello, F. A., and R. L. Kirkpatrick. 1989. Regional vari-ation in the nutritional ecology of Ruffed Grouse. Journalof Wildlife Management 51: 749-770.Simpson, J. A. 1998. Why don’t more birds eat more fungi?Australasian Mycological Newsletter 17: 67-68.Simpson, J. A. 2000. More on mycophagous birds. Aus-tralasian Mycologist 19: 49-51.Stafford, S. K., and R.W. Dimmick. 1979. Autumn and win-ter foods of Ruffed Grouse in the southern Appalachians.Journal of Wildlife Management 43: 121-127.Stewart, R. E. 1956. Ecological study of Ruffed Grousebroods in Virginia. The Auk 73: 33-41.Received 6 November 2010Accepted 29 November 2010

A Brief Survey of Mycophagy in Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus, from Northwestern Ontario

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A Brief Survey of Mycophagy in Ruffed Grouse, Bonasa umbellus, from Northwestern Ontario

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