advertisements
Our Easy Gourmet Recipe Sites
Today people are eating at home. Here are 9 Easy, No Fuss Gourmet recipe sites to save you time and money.
Lunch and Salad Sites
100 Easy Chicken, Pasta, Tuna, Salmon Striped Bass and other Salads
Wine Sites
Grouse Picture Society
Bookmark this valuable site
face=arial>Thank you for visiting the Grouse Picture Society. We are a non profit, public service organization. We are all volunteers. All our revenues go to improving the site. No one has ever taken a salary. . . Please scroll down to learn more
If you have a picture of wildlife that you like, send it to us and we will put it up and give you the credit
Click here for our Easily Affordable $15 a month Banner Ad
Our Motto
"Those who would sacrifice freedom for security shall not have, nor do they deserve either one."
Thomas Jefferson
Click here for our Easily Affordable $15 a month Banner Ad
Grouse
Bookmark this valuable site
<
Click here for our Easily Affordable $15 a month Banner Ad
Click here for our Easily Affordable $15 a month Banner Ad
p align=center>Articles and Information
Bookmark this valuable site
Grouse, common name for 17 species of the pheasant family,
They are found around the world in the northern hemisphere; two of the three species of ptarmigan inhabit both the Americas and Eurasia. Grouse vary in size from males of the capercaillie, 86 cm (34 in) long, of European coniferous forests, to the 32 cm (12.5 in) white-tailed ptarmigan, of western North American mountains. In most species the sexes differ in color, but none have truly bright plumage. Bright colors are limited to red or yellow comblike structures over the eyes, expanded during the breeding season, or sacs of naked skin that inflate like balloons during courtship displays. Mating systems are elaborate and many of the males are polygamous, meeting in the spring at certain arenas where they compete for mates.
The ruffed grouse occurs in woodlands from Alaska to Newfoundland, south to the northern Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians. The name comes from a ruff of feathers at the sides of the neck. These feathers are larger in males than in females and are spread widely during courtship displays. This species is famous for the springtime "drumming" of the males, a sound produced by the beating of the wings against the air as the male stands erect. The sound carries and resembles a noisy gasoline engine starting up.
Two other North American grouse, the blue grouse of western mountains and the more widely-distributed spruce grouse are confined to coniferous forests. The male blue grouse has inflatable neck sacs, varying geographically in color from yellow to reddish purple; the spruce grouse lacks such sacs. These two species have been called "fool hens" because of their apparent fearlessness, making them easy to hunt.
Two species of the sharp-tailed grouse, and the sage grouse, dwell in open country. The sage grouse is the largest American grouse. Males reach 75 cm (30 in) in length; females are smaller (58 cm/23 in). During the communal courtship displays, males strut about with their spiky tail feathers fanned out, and a pair of yellow sacs on their chests inflated.
Scientific classification:
Scientific classification: Grouse belong to the family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. The capercaillie is classified as Tetrao urogallus, the white-tailed ptarmigan as Lagopus leucurus, and the ruffed grouse as Bonasa umbellus. The blue grouse is classified as Dendragapus obscurus and the spruce grouse as Dendragapus canadensis. Prairie chickens are classified in the genus Tympanuchus. The sharp-tailed grouse is classified as Tympanuchus phasianellus and the sage grouse as Centrocercus
