Upland Game Identification Guide Photo by Craig Bihrle Each fall, thousands of North Dakota hunters clip wings, these questions – based on samples of hundreds or thousands feet and/or pull feathers from upland game birds they bag. of birds – are vital. Biologists and wardens collect some of these bird parts as part of To an individual hunter, whether a sharptail is a male or their fi eld work. Th e majority are dutifully placed in postage-paid female, or whether a pheasant rooster is a juvenile or adult, envelopes and mailed by hunters to the Game and Fish Depart- is little more than simple curiosity. Th is guide is designed to ment’s Bismarck offi ce. satisfy that curiosity – to show indicators biologists use to Wing envelopes begin arriving in mid-September, shortly determine sex and/or age. It does not show every possible after sharptail, Hungarian partridge, ruff ed grouse and sage indicator for each species, but that isn’t necessary. It covers grouse seasons open. Biologists examine the contents of each things biologists get from wing envelopes, and that is almost envelope. By looking at key indicators on feathers and feet, they always enough. determine age and sex of each bird. When all information is When you know what to look for, you can usually make a tallied, we have a pretty good idea about the ratio of adults (birds pretty good guess as to the sex and/or age of the birds in your that have survived at least one winter) to juveniles (birds hatched bag (even biologists are occasionally stumped). If nothing else, in the current year) harvested, which allows the Department to you can impress your hunting partners with your new-found assess reproductive success from the previous summer. knowledge. Hunters who pursue North Dakota’s pheasants, sharp-tailed Even if you think you’ve become an expert, keep those grouse, Hungarian partridge, ruff ed grouse, sage grouse and wild wings, feet and feathers coming. A good sample size means turkeys are responsible for species identifi cation before pulling good information to base future seasons. the trigger. Sex identifi cation isn’t necessary (or possible in most cases), except for pheasant and spring turkey hunters, where hens Some Basics... are not legal game. Th is guide covers fi ve species of non-migratory game Normally, species identifi cation of birds on the wing is birds in North Dakota – ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed obvious. However, hunters sometimes mistake hen pheasants for grouse, Hungarian partridge, ruff ed grouse and sage grouse. sharp-tailed grouse, or young pheasants for sharptails or par- Certain indicators of age apply to these species – most of the tridge. Such mistakes are usually made early in grouse season, time. before pheasants are legal. A good rule to follow is that if you’re But the indicators may change as the hunting season goes not positive about the identity of your target, don’t shoot. You’ll on. Jerry Kobriger, upland game management supervisor for get other chances. the Department, said it’s usually easier to separate juveniles Once you’ve from adults in September than it is in November, when feath- 10 got a bird in hand, ers are usually done growing. you should know For all species except pheasant, the key to age is hidden 9 what kind it is. But in the wing, specifi cally the outer three large feathers called 8 how do you know if primaries. For identifi cation purposes, these feathers are num- it’s a male or female bered. Th e outermost primary is number 10, the next one in 7 (pheasants exclud- is nine, the third one is eight, and so on. Each species has 10 ed)? Did the bird primary feathers. 6 hatch this summer, or did it survive Th is photo shows the last winter? To outer three primaries biologists charged of an adult sage grouse with managing upland game populations and seasons, answers to wing. Note the rounded tips and smooth edges. Adults of all upland For all our upland game species except pheasants, the key to species as well as determining whether the bird is an adult or young-of-the-year is the fully-molted juvenile appearance of the outer three primary wing feathers. Th e outermost pheasants, exhibit the large wing feather is numbered 10. Th e next one in is number nine, same characteristics – the next one is eight, and so on. While this is a sharptail wing, Smooth rounded feather tips and rounded tips: adult feather numbers are the same for all species. smooth edges. North Dakota Game and Fish Department PLOTS Guide – 2012 A good general rule for gists to know the age and sex of a harvested bird. You’ll have determining age, Kobriger the whole bird. It should be easy, right? said, is to look at the under- Th e following pages contain text and photos that should side of the number nine and provide basic knowledge of upland game identifi cation. 10 primaries. Pull back some Have it handy when you clean your birds. It will help you of the small covert feathers learn more about the birds you bagged. If you use it enough, so you can see the “quill” part you may reach a point where you no longer need it. of the primary feather. If the quill part is blue and soft, Rooster Pheasant... Pointed frayed that indicates the feather is A hunter needs to know the dif- edges: juvenile still growing. ference between a hen and rooster “If the outer two feath- pheasant before he or she pulls Th e outer three primaries ers – number nine and 10 – the trigger. Most of the time, the shown here are attached to are still growing,” Kobriger identity of the fl ushing bird is the wing of a juvenile sage said, then it’s an adult. On obvious. grouse. Note the pointedness the other hand, if the number Th ere are situations, though, and frayed edges on the eighth eight and/or seven primaries when it is good to hesitate or and ninth primaries. Th ese are still growing, then the hold back. Birds fl ushing into characteristics are the same for bird is likely a juvenile. a rising or setting sun are often a juveniles of all upland species When wing primaries tough call. It’s not always possible to except pheasants. Also note are fully grown, the quill part hunt pheasants with the sun at your the specks and more mottled becomes hard and white or back, but it’s a good idea. coloring of the juvenile wing, light gray. “Th en you have to When your eyes can’t make a positive ID on a pheasant, compared to the adult. Refer to look at the wear and contour your ears might be able to lend some help. Rooster pheas- these pictures when you get to between eight and nine and ants often crow or cackle when they launch. Hens are silent the sage grouse section. 10,” Kobriger said. except for the rush of their beating wings. To check wear of the Early in the pheasant season, juvenile roosters can be outer primaries, look at the top side of the wing. If the ends of fully-colored or hardly colored at all. Consider the photo the outer two feathers are somewhat rounded and smooth, the shown below. Both birds were taken on opening day of bird is likely an adult. If ends are more pointed and frayed, the pheasant season on adjoining sections of land. Both birds bird is likely a juvenile. were juveniles, but one was fully colored, the other more Th is rule applies to all birds covered here, except pheasants. closely resembled a hen. Whether a rooster pheasant is an adult or juvenile is determined Th e latter bird fl ushed close to the hunter, showing by the length and appearance of the spur between the foot and enough color to indicate rooster, but the hunter wasn’t knee. positive enough Sex determination is diff erent for each species. For pheas- to shoot until ants, the diff erence is obvious. For sharptails, key indicators are the bird made a coloration of the central two tail feathers and the feathers on feeble cackle on the top of the head. For Huns, it’s its way up. feather coloration on the shoulder Identifying of the wing, and for turkey it’s the the half-colored breast feather color pattern. Th e bird as a juvenile sex of a ruff ed grouse is best de- was easy. Adult termined by dot patterns on rump roosters molt in feathers, while sage grouse are summer, but they sexed by color patterns of feathers are fully-colored under the tail. again by early Th ese two roosters were taken on an opening Just a few feathers and part of fall. Th e key to day of pheasant season, within a mile of each a wing or foot is all it takes for a determining age other. Both are young-of-the-year birds. Th e Department upland game biolo- between fully- bottom bird is obviously a juvenile. Th e top Th is photo shows the underside of a sage grouse wing. You can colored juvenile bird is fully colored. To tell whether the top judge this bird as an adult, because the ninth and 10th primaries roosters, and bird is an adult or juvenile, you need to check are still growing, as evidenced by the bluish “quill” section. If the adults, is the spur length and appearance of the spurs.