Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini, a classification supported by mitochondrial DNA sequence studies, and applied by the American Ornithologists' Union, ITIS, International Ornithological Congress, and others.
The Phasianidae are a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family includes 185 species divided into 54 genera. It was formerly broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae. However, this treatment is now known to be paraphyletic and polyphyletic, respectively, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into two subfamilies: Rollulinae and Phasianinae, with the latter containing multiple tribes within two clades. The New World quail (Odontophoridae) and guineafowl (Numididae) were formerly sometimes included in this family, but are now typically placed in families of their own; conversely, grouse and turkeys, formerly often treated as distinct families, are now known to be deeply nested within Phasianidae, so they are now included in the present family.
The black grouse, also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and steppe habitat when breeding, often near wooded areas. They will spend the winter perched in dense forests, feeding almost exclusively on the needles of conifers. The black grouse is one of two species of grouse in the genus Lyrurus, the other being the lesser-known Caucasian grouse.
The willow ptarmigan ; Lagopus lagopus) is a bird in the grouse subfamily Tetraoninae of the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is also known as the willow grouse. The willow ptarmigan breeds in birch and other forests and moorlands in northern Europe, the tundra of Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska and Canada, in particular in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. It is the state bird of Alaska.
The western capercaillie, also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie, is a heavy member of the grouse family and the largest of all extant grouse species. The heaviest-known specimen, recorded in captivity, had a weight of 7.2 kilograms. Found across Europe and the Palearctic, this primarily-ground-dwelling forest grouse is renowned for its courtship display. The bird shows extreme sexual dimorphism, with males nearly twice the size of females. The global population is listed as "least concern" under the IUCN, although the populations of central Europe are declining and fragmented, or possibly extirpated.
The ruffed grouse is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only species in the genus Bonasa.
The Eurasian treecreeper or common treecreeper is a small passerine bird also known in the British Isles, where it is the only living member of its genus, simply as treecreeper. It is similar to other treecreepers, and has a curved bill, patterned brown upperparts, whitish underparts, and long stiff tail feathers which help it creep up tree trunks. It can be most easily distinguished from the similar short-toed treecreeper, which shares much of its European range, by its different song.
The hazel grouse, sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse family of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as eastern and central Europe, in dense, damp, mixed coniferous woodland, preferably with some spruce. The bird is sometimes referred to as "rabchick" by early 20th century English speaking travellers to Russia.
The Caucasian grouse or Caucasian black grouse is a large bird in the grouse family. It is closely related to the black grouse.
The mountain chickadee is a small songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae.
The saxaul sparrow is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in parts of Central Asia. At 14–16 centimetres (5.5–6.3 in) and 25–32 grams (0.88–1.13 oz), it is among the larger sparrows. Both sexes have plumage ranging from dull grey to sandy brown, and pale brown legs. Females have less boldly coloured plumage and bills, lacking the pattern of black stripes on the male's head. The head markings of both sexes make the saxaul sparrow distinctive, and unlikely to be confused with any other bird. Vocalisations include a comparatively soft and musical chirping call, a song, and a flight call.
The black-billed capercaillie, also known as eastern capercaillie, Siberian capercaillie, spotted capercaillie or stone capercaillie, is a large grouse species closely related to the more widespread western capercaillie. It is a sedentary species which breeds in the larch taiga forests of eastern Siberia as well as parts of northern Mongolia and China. In the far west of its distribution, the black-billed capercaillie has been known to hybridize with the western capercaillie. Compared to its western cousin, the Siberian capercaillie is also more adaptable to open habitat, given the larch forests it lives in are usually less dense than other taiga communities. Thus, they tend to avoid thick coniferous forests.
Buff-throated monal-partridge, also known as buff-throated partridge or Szechenyi's monal-partridge, is a member of the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. It is endemic to western China.
The long-billed plover is a species of wading bird in the family Charadriidae. It can be found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The long-billed plover is a migratory bird, so it breeds and spends the winter in different parts of its range. This bird can often be spotted along the shores of rivers, streams, in wetlands, and rice fields. It forages on the shoreline primarily for aquatic insects, insect larvae, and other invertebrates. It is difficult to distinguish between male and female individuals because of their similar plumage. The breeding season starts at the end of February or early March and ends in July. A male and a female forms a monogamous pair and maintains their territory throughout the breeding season. A global population survey in 2016 assessed the long-billed plover as a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
The Sakalava rail is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to western Madagascar. This bird is small with brown upperpart feathers, grey underparts, a yellow bill and red legs.
The southern black korhaan, also known as the black bustard, is a species of bird in the bustard family, Otididae. This small bustard is found in southwestern South Africa, from Namaqualand, south to Cape Town and east to Makhanda. It prefers semi-arid habitats such as grasslands, shrublands and savannas where it can easily prey on ground-dwelling arthropods and eat seeds. It reproduces yearly in the spring and will lay about one or two eggs per breeding season.
The white-browed tit-warbler is a species of bird in the family Aegithalidae. The species was first described by Nikolai Severtzov in 1873. It is resident in the Tian Shan and central China as well as in the Himalayas where it is mainly found in winter. Its natural habitat is boreal forests.
The Nepal cupwing(Pnoepyga immaculata), also known as the Nepal wren-babbler or immaculate cupwing, is a small species of passerine bird in the family Pnoepygidae. It is native to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Tibet, and Nepal. It is found in dense montane forest in the Himalayas.
The sooty grouse is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to North America's Pacific Coast Ranges. It is closely related to the dusky grouse, and the two were previously considered a single species, the blue grouse.
Allofeeding is a type of food sharing behaviour observed in cooperatively breeding species of birds. Allofeeding refers to a parent, sibling or unrelated adult bird feeding altricial hatchlings, which are dependent on parental care for their survival. Allofeeding also refers to food sharing between adults of the same species. Allofeeding can occur between mates during mating rituals, courtship, egg laying or incubation, between peers of the same species, or as a form of parental care.
