Two grouse on the road

[Richard Flanders]

I was/am under the impression that the females don't have the dark neck feathers that the males have and poof out when strutting. I have up to 11 ruffies coming in under my feeder daily this winter and some, females, I've been surmising, have a more slender neck without the dark feathers. Just my guess though. They sure are fun to watch through the window. Every day at dawn then at around 3:15pm they start flying and running in from all directions. The snow in my yard looks like a tracked up chicken pen.