Spruce Grouse in all her finery

This is a female Spruce Grouse that I saw NW of Calgary on 29 March 2012. It was coming down a low, snowy embankment to the gravel backroad. Grouse always eat gravel to help digest their food. This one let me get out of my car and walk very slowly till I was within maybe 10' or 12' of it. It gave me various "poses" and then it just walked off into the trees.

"The Spruce Grouse or Canada Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) is a medium-sized grouse closely associated with the coniferous boreal forests or taiga of North America. It is one of the most arboreal grouse, fairly well adapted to perching and moving about in trees. When approached by a predator, it relies on camouflage and immobility to an amazing degree, for example letting people come to within a few feet before finally taking flight, a behavior that has earned it the moniker "fool hen".

Spruce Grouse are 38-43 cm long (15-17 inches); males weigh 550-650 g (19-23 ounces) and females 450-550 g (16-19 ounces).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Grouse