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;[[:Category:Falcipennis|Falcipennis]] canadensis | ;[[:Category:Falcipennis|Falcipennis]] canadensis | ||
[[Image:Spruce_Grouse.jpg|thumb|550px|right|'''Male'''. Photo by ronjames4_]] | [[Image:Spruce_Grouse.jpg|thumb|550px|right|'''Male'''. Photo by ronjames4_]] | ||
| − | [[Image:d07_1181.jpg|thumb|350px|right|'''Female'''. Photo by {{user|Gary+Clark|Gary Clark}}. br> Location: Gaspesie NP, [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]]] | + | [[Image:d07_1181.jpg|thumb|350px|right|'''Female'''. Photo by {{user|Gary+Clark|Gary Clark}}. <br> Location: Gaspesie NP, [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]]] |
==Identification== | ==Identification== | ||
40cm. Long square black tail, brown at the end. Grey with a black breast with white bars, a black throat and a red patch over the eye. Adult females are mottled brown with dark and white bars on the underparts. | 40cm. Long square black tail, brown at the end. Grey with a black breast with white bars, a black throat and a red patch over the eye. Adult females are mottled brown with dark and white bars on the underparts. | ||
Revision as of 14:55, 11 May 2009
- Falcipennis canadensis
Identification
40cm. Long square black tail, brown at the end. Grey with a black breast with white bars, a black throat and a red patch over the eye. Adult females are mottled brown with dark and white bars on the underparts.
Distribution
Alaska, Canada and United States.
Taxonomy
Two distinct subspecies of Spruce Grouse exist. "Franklin's Grouse," franklinii, found in the southwestern portion of the range, in the mountains from Alberta southward, has an all black tail with small white spots on the feathers overlying it. The northeastern subspecies, canadensis, has a rufous tip to the tail and lacks white spots above the tail.
This species has in the past been placed in genus Dendragapus or in genus Canachites.
Habitat
Boreal forest and taiga.
Behaviour
The diet includes conifer needles in the winter; in summer, they also eat berries, green plants, and some insects. They eat pebbles, to help their gizzard digest their food.
