The Life of Animals | Grouse | Grouse are heavily built like other Galliformes chickens. They vary in length from 31 cm (12 inches) to 95 cm (37 inches), with a weight of 0.3 kg (11 ounces) to 6.5 kg (14 lbs). Males are larger than females twice as heavy in the capercaillie, the largest member of the family. Grouse feathers have noses. Unlike other Galliformes, birds lack spurs These feed primarily on buds, catkins vegetation, leaves and branches, which normally accounts for over 95 percent of adult food weight. Many forest species in life is characterized by the consumption of large quantities of needles, rejecting most other vertebrates. To digest food facility, grouse are the main crops and gizzards, eating grain to break down food and have developed bowel with blind where symbiotic bacteria digest cellulose.
Prairie species are more social and tundra species (grouse, lagopus) are the most social, forming flocks of up to 100 in the winter. Most species stay within their nesting area year-round, but make small seasonal movements of many individuals ptarmigan (grouse is called in America) and willow (Willow Ptarmigan is called in America) migration hundreds of kilometers. In all but one species (willow ptarmigan), males are polygamous. The displays feature bright colors and combs for men in some species, colorful inflatable bags on the sides of the neck. The female lays a clutch, but can be replaced if lost eggs. The eggs are in the form of chicken eggs is yellow and pale brown hardly stained. Female (and male grouse) are with them and protect them until their first autumn, when they reach their adult weight (except grouse males).
The three tundra species have retained their previous figures. Prairie and forest species have declined significantly due to habitat loss, but popular games Ruffed grouse and capercaillie has benefited conservation. Most grouse species listed by IUCN as "Least Concern" or "near threatened", but prairie chicken major and minor are listed as "vulnerable" and Gunnison Ortega appears as "at risk".
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