Bird name:

Sharp-tailed Grouse

Tympanuchus phasianellus

Order

GALLIFORMES

Family

Turkeys and Grouse (Phasianidae)

Code 4

STGR

Code 6

TYMPHA

ITIS

175841

Breeding Location:

Grasslands

Breeding Type:

Promiscuous

Breeding Population:

Uncommon to fairly common

Egg Color:

Light brown with red brown and lavender spots

Number of Eggs:

5 - 17

Incubation Days:

21 - 24

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Lined with grasses, leaves, and feathers.

Migration:

Nonmigratory

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General

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Medium-sized grouse with lightly barred brown upperparts and white underparts dotted with chevrons. Head has short crest, yellow-orange eye comb, and pink or violet neck patch exposed when displaying. Tail is pointed and white-edged. Female lacks neck patch.

Range and Habitat

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Resident from Alaska east to Hudson Bay and south to Utah, northeastern New Mexico, and Michigan. Found in brushlands, grasslands, sagebrush, woodland edges, brushy prairies, cleared farmlands, bogs, river canyons, and boreal forest edges.

Breeding and Nesting

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Five to seventeen light brown eggs spotted with red-brown and lavender are laid in a ground depression lined with grass, leaves, and feathers. Incubation ranges from 21 to 24 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Feeds on forbs, grass, and insects. In winter, eats berries, buds, and catkins of deciduous trees and shrubs.

Vocalization

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Makes chattering noises and a soft "coo-oo." Utters bold booming notes during breeding season.

Similar Species

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Greater Prairie Chicken has barred underparts and shorter, squared tail.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Comb

Only found in male birds and consists of a colored area over the eye. A well developed comb can also signal (sexual) health to a potential mate.

Crest

Tufts of feathers on the head of the bird.

Neck patch

A sac located on the neck that is inflatable and is only visible in males during courtship displays.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America