Falcipennis

Falcipennis is a genus of birds in the grouse family known as spruce grouse. They comprise three similar yet distinct species:

Image	Name	Common name	Distribution
	Falcipennis falcipennis	Siberian grouse	Far East Russia, possibly China
	Falcipennis canadensis	Spruce grouse	The northern United States; in Alaska, northern New England, northern Michigan, northeastern Minnesota, and the montane coniferous forests of Montana, Idaho, Maine, Oregon, and Washington. Most of Canada
	Falcipennis franklinii	Franklin's grouse	Southern British Columbia, and the northern Rocky Mountains and Cascades

Falcipennis
Male spruce grouse (F. canadensis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Subfamily:	Tetraoninae
Genus:	Falcipennis Elliot, 1864
Species
Falcipennis falcipennis Falcipennis canadensis Falcipennis franklinii

All three spruce grouse species inhabit northern coniferous forests and live on a diet of conifer needles during the winter. They have breeding systems with dispersed male territories, intermediate between the leks of some grouse and the monogamy of others.[1]

Etymology

Falcipennis means "sickle-winged" in New Latin; the wings are swept back in flight.[2]

References

1. Storch, Ilse; Bendell, J. F. (2003). "Grouse". In Christopher Perrins (ed.). Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books. pp. 184–187. ISBN 1-55297-777-3.
2. Holloway, Joel Ellis (2003). Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names. Timber Press. p. 94. ISBN 0-88192-600-0.

• Peterson, Alan P. (Editor) (1999). Zoological Nomenclature Resource (Zoonomen). Accessed 2007-08-01.