• Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) have quartz grit added to their diet, which activates the digestion process and improves food processing in their stomach.

The ruffed grouse eats plants and animals; during summer, its diet includes leaves, berries, seeds, and insects, while in winter, the primary food source consists of tree buds and twigs. The species forages for food on the ground and on low branches of trees, consuming leaves, tree buds, berries, seeds, insects, coniferous cones, and plant buds. The daily food requirement ranges from 50 grams to 90 grams. Young ruffed grouse feed on invertebrates, specifically beetles, flies, true bugs, butterflies, freshwater shrimp, ribbon worms, mollusks, nematodes, bedbugs, grasshoppers, dragonflies, and caddisflies.