Dendragapus

Last updated

Dendragapus
Dendragapus obscurus USNPS.jpg
Male dusky grouse displaying, Yellowstone NP; note purple air sac and red eye wattle.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Tribe: Tetraonini
Genus: Dendragapus
Elliot, 1864
Type species
Tetrao obscurus
Species

Dusky grouse Dendragapus obscurus
Sooty grouse Dendragapus fuliginosus

Contents

Synonyms

Palaeotetrix

The genus Dendragapus contains two closely related species of grouse that have often been treated as a single variable taxon (blue grouse). The two species are the dusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and the sooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus). [1] In addition, the spruce grouse and Siberian grouse have been considered part of this genus.

Females of both species (sooty grouse pictured) are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts. Dendragapus fuliginosus 5523.JPG
Females of both species (sooty grouse pictured) are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.
In breeding plumage, this sooty grouse male is typical of the species. It is dark grey with a yellow wattle over the eye. The tail is long and black with a square pale gray tip. Dendragapus fuliginosus 5076.JPG
In breeding plumage, this sooty grouse male is typical of the species. It is dark grey with a yellow wattle over the eye. The tail is long and black with a square pale gray tip.

Description

These are large grouse that inhabit highland regions of North America and Eurasia. The sooty grouse is found in the Pacific Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada, and the dusky grouse in the Rocky Mountains. [2] [3] [4] These two taxa were originally regarded as separate species, but were considered conspecific for much of the twentieth century. However, in 2006 the American Ornithologists' Union re-split them, [1] following the DNA-based work of Barrowclough et al. (2004). [5] whose results supported the earlier work of Brooks (1929) [6] who regarded the two taxa as separate species based on morphology, behavior and vocalizations. The precise ranges of the two species are well-defined in the south, separated by extensive areas of unsuitable forest-free habitat, but somewhat uncertain in the north of the range of the genus where there is no separation; Barrowclough et al.'s study did not include these northern populations.

Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end (lighter in the sooty grouse). Adult males are mainly dark (especially sooty grouse) with a yellow (sooty grouse) or purplish (dusky grouse) throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow (sooty grouse) or yellow-to-red (dusky grouse) wattle over the eye during display. Adult females of both species are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts. [4]

Their breeding habitat is the edges of conifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions of North America and Eurasia. Their range is closely associated with that of various conifers. The nest is a scrape on the ground concealed under a shrub or log.

All species have healthy populations, except for some population decline and habitat loss of the sooty grouse at the southern end of its range in southern California, [2] and the Siberian grouse which is considered near-threatened.

Species

Extant Species

Genus Dendragapus Elliot, 1864 – two species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Dusky grouse

Dendragapus obscurus USNPS.jpg 084 - DUSKY GROUSE (8-23-12) uncompahgre nat for, gunnison co, co (4) (8719896661).jpg

Dendragapus obscurus
(Say, 1822)

Four subspecies
  • D. o. obscurus(Say, 1822)
  • D. o. oreinus(Behle & Selander, 1951)
  • D. o. pallidus(Swarth, 1931)
  • D. o. richardsonii(Douglas, 1829)
the Rocky Mountains in North America
Dendragapus obscurus map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Sooty grouse

Dendragapus fuliginosus 5058.JPG Dendragapus fuliginosus 5527.JPG

Dendragapus fuliginosus
(Ridgway, 1873)

Four subspecies
  • D. f. fuliginosus(Ridgway, 1873)
  • D. f. howardi(Dickey & Van Rossem, 1923)
  • D. f. sierrae(Chapman, 1904)
  • D. f. sitkensis(Swarth, 1921)
from southeastern Alaska and Yukon south to California
Dendragapus fuliginosus map.svg
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Fossils

Late Pleistocene fossil species that have been described are Dendragapus gilli (western and west-central US), initially placed in a distinct genus Palaeotetrix, and Dendragapus lucasi (known only from Fossil Lake, US).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mimid</span> Family of birds

The mimids are the New World family of passerine birds, Mimidae, that includes thrashers, mockingbirds, tremblers, and the New World catbirds. As their name suggests, these birds are notable for their vocalization, especially some species' remarkable ability to mimic a wide variety of birds and other sounds heard outdoors. They are commonly referred to as mimic thrushes but are not, in fact, thrushes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crossbill</span> Genus of birds

Crossbills are birds of the genus Loxia within the finch family (Fringillidae), with six species. These birds are characterized by the mandibles with crossed tips, which gives the group its English name. Adult males tend to be red or orange in color, and females green or yellow, but there is much variation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed duck</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed duck or coween, formerly known as the oldsquaw, is a medium-sized sea duck that breeds in the tundra and taiga regions of the arctic and winters along the northern coastlines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is the only member of the genus Clangula.

<i>Tringa</i> Genus of birds

Tringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1599. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly coloured legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the green sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern hemisphere temperate regions for breeding. Some of this group—notably the green sandpiper—nest in trees, using the old nests of other birds, usually thrushes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spruce grouse</span> Species of bird

The spruce grouse, also known as Canada grouse, spruce hen or fool hen, is a medium-sized grouse closely associated with the coniferous boreal forests or taiga of North America. It is the only member of the genus Canachites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-tailed tattler</span> Species of bird

The grey-tailed tattler, also known as the Siberian tattler or Polynesian tattler, is a small shorebird in the genus Tringa. The English name for the tattlers refers to their noisy call. The genus name Tringa is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific brevipes is from Latin brevis, "short", and pes, "foot".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicknell's thrush</span> Species of bird

Bicknell's thrush is a medium-sized thrush, at 17.5 cm (6.9 in) and 28 g (0.99 oz). One of North America's rarest and most localized songbirds, it breeds on coniferous mountain tops and disturbed habitats of northeastern North America. While very similar in appearance and vocalization to the gray-cheeked thrush, the two species, with two completely different breeding ranges, differ slightly in their morphology and vocalizations. It was named after Eugene Bicknell, an American amateur ornithologist, who made the first scientific discovery of the species on Slide Mountain in the Catskills in the late 19th century. John Burroughs, in his essay, "The Heart of the Southern Catskills" (1886), writes effusively about the voice of Bicknell's thrush heard near the summit on his climbs of Slide Mountain, and how on his stays on Slide saw them nowhere else but "about the summit", and saw no other thrush but Bicknell's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townsend's warbler</span> Species of bird

Townsend's warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dusky grouse</span> Species of bird

The dusky grouse is a species of forest-dwelling grouse native to the Rocky Mountains in North America. It is closely related to the sooty grouse, and the two were previously considered a single species, the blue grouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese pond heron</span> Species of bird

The Chinese pond heron is an East Asian freshwater bird of the heron family, (Ardeidae). It is one of six species of birds known as "pond herons". It is parapatric with the Indian pond heron to the west and the Javan pond heron to the south, and these three are presumed to form a superspecies. As a group they are variously affiliated with the squacco heron or the Malagasy pond heron. As of mid-2011 there are no published molecular analyses of pond heron interrelationships and osteological data is likewise not analyzed for all relevant comparison taxa.

<i>Euphonia</i> Genus of birds

Euphonias are members of the genus Euphonia, a group of Neotropical birds in the finch family. They and the chlorophonias comprise the subfamily Euphoniinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tattler (bird)</span> Genus of birds

The tattlers are the two very similar bird species in the shorebird genus Tringa. They formerly had their own genus, Heteroscelus. The old genus name means "different leg" in Greek, referring to the leg scales that differentiate the tattlers from their close relatives, the shanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siberian grouse</span> Species of bird

The Siberian grouse, also known as Siberian spruce grouse, Amur grouse, or Asian spruce grouse, is a short, rotund forest-dwelling grouse. A sedentary, non-migratory bird, it is the only member of the genus Falcipennis. The spruce grouse of North America, which physically looks similar, is now placed in the monotypic genus Canachites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red fox sparrow</span> Subspecies of bird

Red fox sparrow is the collective name for the most brightly colored taxa in the American sparrow genus Passerella, the Passerella iliaca iliaca group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooty fox sparrow</span> Subspecies of bird

The sooty fox sparrow contains the darkest-colored taxa in the genus Passerella. It is currently classified as a "subspecies group" within the fox sparrow pending wider-spread acceptance of species status. It has long been suspected to be a separate evolutionary lineage due to morphological distinctness, and this is confirmed by analysis of mtDNA sequence and haplotype data. This group appears to be most closely related to the thick-billed and/or slate-colored fox sparrows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slate-colored fox sparrow</span> Subspecies of bird

The slate-colored fox sparrow group comprises the Rocky Mountain taxa in the genus Passerella. It is currently classified as a "subspecies group" within the fox sparrows pending a more-thorough genetic assay of all forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thick-billed fox sparrow</span> Subspecies of bird

The thick-billed fox sparrow group comprises the peculiarly large-billed Sierra Nevadan taxa in the genus Passerella. It is currently classified as a "subspecies group" within the fox sparrow, pending wider-spread acceptance of its species status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sooty grouse</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltmarsh sparrow</span> Species of bird

The saltmarsh sparrow is a small New World sparrow found in salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of the United States. At one time, this bird and the Nelson's sparrow were thought to be a single species, the sharp-tailed sparrow. Because of this, the species was briefly known as the "saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow." Saltmarsh sparrow numbers are declining due to habitat loss largely attributed to human activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gray hawk</span> Species of raptor

The gray hawk or Mexican goshawk is a smallish raptor found in open country and forest edges. It is sometimes placed in the genus Asturina as Asturina plagiata. The species was split by the American Ornithological Society (AOU) from the gray-lined hawk. The gray hawk is found from Costa Rica north into the southwestern United States.

References

  1. 1 2 Banks, R. C.; Cicero, C.; Dunn, J. L.; Kratter, A. W.; Rasmussen, P. C.; Remsen, J. V. Jr.; Rising, J. D.; Stotz, D. F. (2006). "Forty-seventh Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds" (PDF). The Auk. 123 (3): 926–936. doi: 10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123[926:FSTTAO]2.0.CO;2 . ISSN   0004-8038 . Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  2. 1 2 del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. (1994). Handbook of the Birds of the World 2: 401–402. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona ISBN   84-87334-15-6.
  3. Zwickel, Fred C.; Bendell, James F. (2004). Blue Grouse: Their Biology and Natural History. Ottawa: NRC Research Press. ISBN   978-0-660-19271-0. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  4. 1 2 Sibley, D. (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds . Knopf. pp.  143. ISBN   0-679-45122-6.
  5. Barrowclough, G. F.; Groth, J. G.; Mertz, L. A. & Gutierrez, R. J. (2004). "Phylogeographic structure, gene flow and species status in Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)" (PDF). Molecular Ecology. 13 (7): 1911–1922. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02215.x. PMID   15189213. S2CID   20762207. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-13.
  6. Brooks, A. (1929). "On Dendragapus obscurus obscurus" (PDF). The Auk . 46 (1): 111–113. doi:10.2307/4075798. JSTOR   4075798.