Falcipennis

Falcipennis is a genus of birds in the grouse family that comprises three very similar species:

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

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 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.