Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Bird sighting

I saw a bird on the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek trail yesterday, just above the main Whitney trail, that I couldn't identify, nor am I able to find an image on the Internet. It didn't fly away when I came upon it; it just walked slowly, picking at the ground with its beak. It was brown (maybe solid--but it was in a very shady spot), large and tall, with a long wide body. It was bigger than a quail and it didn't have the quail crown thing. And quail usually don't hang around. It looked like some other type of "game" bird. Maybe a wild turkey...but it didn't look like the wild turkey photos that I found on the Internet. Does anyone know what it could be?

Google images for "sooty grouse" and "blue grouse".

Here's one posted several years ago (check that link for several pictures):

We saw some grouse last September on the trail from Tenaya Lake to Clouds Rest.

We saw a pair up the Meysan Lake Trail last August

Yeah, those grouse make a really weird, low whooping noise, too.

Here's the male version of the same species. I believe it would be the males making the whooping calls.

This one was spotted below Cathedral Lakes last summer.