Rock Mountain Grouse
| Rock Mountain Grouse | ||||||||||||
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Males at courtship |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dendragapus obscurus | ||||||||||||
| ( Say , 1823) |
The rock mountain grouse ( Dendragapus obscurus ) is a North American chicken from the pheasant-like family (Phasianidae).
features
The rock mountain chicken reaches a total length of 39 to 53 cm. The male is pinnate dark gray or bluish-blue. It has yellow-orange or red crests above the eye and yellow spots on the neck surrounded by white feathers. The chest and the underside of the body are finely drawn gray-white. The black patch on the chest that is characteristic of the pine grouse is missing . The black tail ends with a gray ribbon. The under tail cover is white. In the Rocky Mountains , males lack the gray band and the bare neck patch is red.
The female and young bird are speckled brown and gray and have dark tails. Unlike the pine grouse, they lack the light underside of the body.
Occurrence
The distribution area extends from southeast Alaska and the Canadian Northwest Territories south to California , Arizona , Colorado and New Mexico . The rock grouse lives in forests and clearings with yellow pine and Douglas fir . After the breeding season, the bird retreats to higher-lying coniferous forests and winters at an altitude of up to 3600 m.
behavior
In winter, the rock mountain grouse feeds almost exclusively on conifer needles, predominantly on pine needles. In summer, insects, seeds and berries add to the diet.
Reproduction
During the courtship season, the male sings with deep tones that can be heard from afar. It fans out the tail over the back, sets up the neck feathers, shows the brightly colored patches on the neck and sets up the combs over the eyes. The nest is a hollow in the ground covered with pine needles and grass that is hidden under a bush, a tree trunk or a rock. The clutch consists of 5–10 cream-colored eggs with brown spots.
Systematics
Dendragapus has so far been considered monotypical. However, more recent molecular biological studies suggest a split into two types, which is also taken into account in the current scientific literature. The genus rock mountain fowl ( Dendragapus ) therefore includes the two species Dendragapus obscurus (Dusky Grouse) and Dendragapus fuliginosus (Sooty Grouse). German species names are not yet in use.
Subspecies
There are four known subspecies:
- Dendragapus obscurus obscurus ( Say , 1823) - The nominate form occurs from Wyoming to New Mexico to Arizona .
- Dendragapus obscurus oreinus Behle & Selander , 1951 - This subspecies occurs over eastern Nevada , southern Idaho and western Utah .
- Dendragapus obscurus pallidus Swarth , 1931 - This subspecies is distributed in southeastern British Columbia across northeast Oregon and western Wyoming.
- Dendragapus obscurus richardsonii ( Douglas , 1829) - This subspecies occurs in the southern Yukon via Idaho, northwest Wyoming and western Montana .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.aou.org/checklist/birdlist47.pdf
- ^ GF Barrowclough, JG Groth, LA Mertz, RJ Gutierrez 2004. Phylogeographic structure, gene flow and species status in blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus). Molecular Ecol. 13: 1911-1922.
- ^ IOC World Bird List Pheasants, Partridges & Francolins
literature
- Miklos DF Udvardy: National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds - Western Region. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1977, 1994, 2006 ISBN 0-679-42851-8
Web links
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Dendragapus obscurus in the Internet Bird Collection
- Dendragapus obscurus onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2013.