Scottish red grouse
| Scottish red grouse | ||||||||||||
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Scottish red grouse ( Lagopus lagopus scotica ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lagopus lagopus scotica | ||||||||||||
| ( Latham , 1787) |
The Scottish willow grouse is a subspecies of the willow grouse found in the British Isles , a species of bird belonging to the order of the fowl .
description
The bird grows to about 40 centimeters and differs from other ptarmigan in the lack of a white winter dress . It is dark red-brown and has dark, brown wings instead of white. The somewhat smaller female is lighter in color than the male, and in general the Scottish red grouse is lighter in color in summer than in winter. In addition, the specimens found in Ireland are more yellowish than the form common in Great Britain and are therefore occasionally separated as a separate subspecies Lagopus lagopus hibernicus .
Way of life
It lives in moors and on heather areas where cranberries and bogberries occur. In autumn it seeks out low altitudes and stubble fields. It prefers to nest in the heather. During the courtship, the male calls guttural “go-bäck, bäk-bäk-bäk”.
Occurrence
The Scottish red grouse inhabits Scotland , northern England , Wales , Ireland , the Hebrides and the Orkney Islands . As a popular game, it was also settled in areas where it was not originally found. The population is estimated to be 250,000 pairs, including 1,000 to 5,000 pairs in Ireland.
Release in Germany
At the beginning of the 1890s, the textile manufacturer Scheibler from Monschau released over 70 pairs on the moors of the High Fens, which at that time belonged to the German Empire . On January 9, 1902, the Prussian mansion decided to introduce a closed season . As early as 1904, three hunters were able to kill 40 birds in one day. At that time, the population was estimated to be around 1000 red grouse.
In 1911, large fires decimated the occurrence and from 1930 a sharp decline began. Most recently, the ptarmigan only appeared on the Botrange in the area that is now part of Belgium , where Günther Niethammer was always able to observe them from 1960 to 1962 at a specific place. However, they completely disappeared at the beginning of the 1970s.
literature
- Roger Peterson, Guy Montfort, PAD Hollom: The Birds of Europe. Verlag Paul Parey, Hamburg and Berlin, 9th edition July 1970, ISBN 3-490-05518-7 .
- Günther Niethammer in Grzimeks Tierleben , Volume 7, Kindler Verlag, 1968, ISBN 3-463-16907-X .
