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| − | [[Image:Willow_Ptarmigan.jpg|thumb| | + | [[Image:Willow_Ptarmigan.jpg|thumb|500px|right|Subspecies ''scoticus''<br />Photo by {{user|IanF|IanF}}<br />Langdon Common, Teesdale, [[England]].<br />subspecies ''scoticus'', Red Grouse]] |
'''Alternative name: Willow Grouse''' | '''Alternative name: Willow Grouse''' | ||
;[[:Category:Lagopus|Lagopus]] lagopus | ;[[:Category:Lagopus|Lagopus]] lagopus | ||
Revision as of 23:03, 22 December 2009
Alternative name: Willow Grouse
- Lagopus lagopus
Includes: Red Grouse
Identification
Summer male - chestnut brown head and neck, white belly splashed with brown, black tail feathers and red eyebrows.
Winter male - entirely white, black eyes, bill and outer tail and red eyebrow. The feet of the bird are heavily feathered and act much like snow shoes.
Summer female - mottled brown (less reddish than the male) with some white on the belly.
Winter female - identical to the winter male.
Scoticus does not have a white winter plumage.
Distribution
North America, British Isles, Northern Europe and Northern Asia.
Taxonomy
Subspecies[1]
- L. l. scotica: British Isles
- L. l. variegata: Coastal Norway (islands off Trondheim Fjord)
- L. l. lagopus: Scandinavia and northern Russia
- L. l. rossica: Baltic countries to central Russia
- L. l. birulai: New Siberian Islands
- L. l. koreni: Siberia to Kamchatka Peninsula
- L. l. kamtschatkensis: Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands
- L. l. maior: Steppes of south-western Siberia and northern Kazakstan
- L. l. brevirostris: Altai Mountains and Sayan Mountains
- L. l. kozlowae: Western Mongolia (Tanmu-Ola, Khangai and Kentei Mountains)
- L. l. sserebrowsky: Eastern Siberia (Lake Baikal to Sea of Okhotsk and Sikhote Alin Mountains)
- L. l. okadai: Sakhalin Island
- L. l. muriei: Eastern Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Islands
- L. l. alexandrae: Alaskan Peninsula to north-western British Columbia
- L. l. alascensis: Alaska
- L. l. leucoptera: Arctic islands of northern Canada and adjacent mainland to southern Baffin Island
- L. l. alba: Tundra of northern Yukon and central British Columbia to Gulf of St. Lawrence
- L. l. ungavus: Northern Quebec and northern Labrador
- L. l. alleni: Newfoundland
Subspecies scoticus by some considered full species, Red Grouse, ranging in U.K. and Ireland.
Habitat
Tundra, thickets with alder and willow trees, open forests and shrub meadows high in the mountains where the temperature is colder.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes leaves and shoots of plants, especially willow and birch; also berries, seeds and insects.
Breeding
The nest is a hollowed out area on the ground lined with feathers and grass, sheltered by rocks or logs. The female incubates the 7-10 eggs for about 21 days while the male guards the area. The only Grouse with male parental care; males have been known to attack Grizzly Bears.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Willow Ptarmigan. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Willow_Ptarmigan
External Links
