Animalia Life

Bonasa umbellus
SUBFAMILY
Tetraoninae
TAXONOMY
Tetrao umbellatus Linnaeus, 1766, Pennsylvania, United States. Fourteen subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Gйlinotte huppйe; German: Kragenhuhn; Spanish: Grйvol Engolado.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
17–19 in (43–48 cm); male 1.3–1.4 lb (600–650 g); female 1.1–1.3 lb (500–590 g). Cryptic plumage; gray and brown color morphs with gray commoner in northern parts of range and brown commoner in southern parts. Small crest on head, erectile black ruff on sides of neck, and fan-shaped tail with distinctive subterminal dark band.
DISTRIBUTION
North America from Alaska to Labrador and Nova Scotia, south to California and Utah in west and through Appalachians to northern Georgia in east; Nevada and Newfoundland. Resident Bonasa sewerzowi
HABITAT
Mainly in old conifer forest with moderate understory usually of bilberry, interspersed with bogs; up to 6,600 ft (2,000 m) in Pyrenees.
BEHAVIOR
Male usually alone, while females and young form wintering groups of up to 10; males gather loosely in lek areas to defend territories and attract females using calls, erect strutting, and tail-fanning displays.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Pine needles, holly leaves, birch buds, berries; leaves of heath plants; young chicks especially take invertebrates.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Promiscuous. Laying in April–June; nest in thick cover in forest; clutch size six to nine; incubation 26 days; chicks able to fly after three weeks; males defer mating until third year.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Small and fragmented populations are threatened and prone to extinction; continued hunting a particular threat in central and south Europe, where increased predator numbers, alpine tourism, and collisions with power lines and deer fences all cause problems.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Attracts trophy hunters; hunted for food mainly in fall.

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