Sage grouse eat a variety of food. When adults, they eat the soft parts of the sagebrush. When chicks, they eat ants, beetles, and grasshoppers. The bird’s favorite food is sagebrush. Sage grouse use their bills to catch food. Sage grouse do not chew their food. Instead, they swallow it by moving their heads up and down. They digest their food very quickly using their crops and soft, non-muscular gizzards. The crop is a part of the bird’s digestive system where food is stored until it can be digested later.

This is a photo of sagebrush with a sage grouse.