I still have to stop myself from calling them Blue Grouse. The former Blue Grouse was split some time ago into the Sooty Grouse of the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and Pacific Coast, and the Dusky Grouse of the Rocky Mountains. The Dusky Grouse inhabits the dry forests and foothills, and during the spring, male Dusky Grouse can get quite territorial. This male from the National Bison Range actually tried his best to bully me around.
Nice pictures of a Dusky grouse, but I have to question the one marked as a male? They all look like females to me. Where is the comb over the eyes and the patch on the side of the throat?
The first couple of images showing a faint eye comb and air sac “patch” is hidden when not displaying. Females tend to have barring on the head, neck and back and are more brown overall.