How to Draw a Spruce Grouse

In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Spruce Grouse in 8 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.

The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.

Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.

At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Spruce Grouse.

Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.

How to Draw a Spruce Grouse - Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: Let's start with the head. Draw a bird shaped head.

Step 2: For detail, add the eye and fill in the beak.

Step 3: Now draw a big, rounded body with a squigly bottom.

Step 4: Draw the back wing and connect it to the top of the body.

Step 5: Alright, now you can draw the first leg. Remember like all birds it has long, thin digits.

Step 6: Draw the second leg behind the first.

Step 7: Almost done! Draw the wing inside the body and pay careful attention to the detail.

Step 8: Finally, add the details to the spruce grouse's body.

Interesting Facts about Spruce Grouses

Spruce Grouses look a lot like a chicken. They have long perching legs and tall tail feathers that frame their back. The color is different though, a Spruce Grouse is mostly dark gray with hints of black. Females are gray and hide better the evergreen forests they call home. They live in the northern part of North America including: Canada, as well as Alaska, Maine, and Minnesota in the United States. Spruce Grouse is 38 to 43 centimeters long and has a wingspan of 57 centimeters. They eat spruce pinecones and needles in the winter and during the summer they eat berries, flowers, bugs, and snails. They look around on the ground to find their food. Spruce Grouses are known for fancy territory displays. Sometimes it is to get a mate and others it’s to scare the other males away.

Did you know?

  • A Spruce Grouse nest is built on the ground and normally holds 4 to 7 eggs.
  • When Spruce Grouses look for food, they flock together, sometimes there can be over 30 birds looking for food.
  • Spruce Grouses don’t fly, they walk everywhere. Unless getting away from predators.
  • A Spruce Grouse’s call range from hisses to “clapping” their wings together. The clap is so loud humans can hear it 150 meters away!
  • Nicknamed “The Fool Hen” by French settlers in Canada. It is said that Spruce Grouses aren’t spooked easy. They let threats get really close before they fly away.

Activity: Spruce Grouse are a good tie in to a game of “Red Light, Green Light.” Choose one student to stand in front of the lined up class. Then have them turn their back on them. As the teacher you are in charge of calling the lights. Begin by announcing “Green Light” the line of students begins to talk slow steps to the other student. After a couple of steps call “Red Light.” The students are to freeze in place. Any student that can’t hold their pose is out of the game. The winner is the first walker to reach the turned student. Then it is their turn to be the goal.

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