Blue Grouse
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 Male Sooty Grouse displaying
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Palaeotetrix |
"Blue Grouse" is an archaic name for the union of Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and Sooty Grouse (D. fuliginosus) as one species. After the split of Dendragapus [1], "Blue Grouse" can now be used as an English-language alternative to the genus name Dendragapus. "Blue Grouse" are large grouse that inhabit highland regions of western North America.
Adults have a long square tail, grey at the end. Adult males are mainly dark with a yellow or purplish throat sac surrounded by white and a yellow patch over the eye. Adult females are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.
Their breeding habitat is the edges of conifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions of western North America, from Alaska to California. Their range is closely associated with that of Ponderosa pines and Douglas-firs. The nest is a scrape on the ground concealed under a shrub or log.
They are permanent residents but move short distances by foot and short flights to denser forest areas in winter, usually moving to higher altitudes.
These birds forage on the ground or in trees in winter. They mainly eat pine needles, but also green plants, berries, and insects in summer.
Males sing with deep hoots on their territory and make short flapping flights to attract females. Females leave the male's territory after mating.
Late Pleistocene fossil species that have been described are Dendragapus gilli (Western and western-Central USA) - initially placed in a distinct genus Palaeotetrix -, and Dendragapus lucasi (known only from Fossil Lake, USA), although as the Falcipennis grouse were formerly included in Dendragapus, it is not completely certain that these are correctly assigned here.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Dendragapus obscurus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Banks et al. (2006). ""Forty-seventh Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds"". The Auk 123 (3): 926–936.
