Description
English: Spruce Grouse (male). Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.
Français : Tétras du Canada mâle. Parc provincial algonquin, Ontario, Canada.
Date April 2007
Author Mdf https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mdf
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Falcipennis-canadensis-002.jpg

The spruce grouse or Canada grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) is a medium-sized grouse closely associated with the coniferous boreal forests or taiga of North America. It is one of the most arboreal grouse, fairly well adapted to perching and moving about in trees. In the first half of the century, spruce grouse were classified as two separate species in the genus Canachites: spruce grouse (C. canadensis) and Franklin's grouse (C. franklinii), a position reinstated by Birdlife International in 2014. Then the species were unified and moved to the genus Dendragapus, congeneric with the blue grouse with which spruce grouse often share coniferous habitats. However, spruce grouse do not have inflatable cervical sacs as in blue grouse, and the natal plumage of the two species is different. Based on its stronger resemblance to the Siberian grouse (Falcipennis falcipennis), the spruce grouse is now recognized as belonging to the genus Falcipennis. Order: Galliformes, Family: Phasianidae, Subfamily: Tetraoninae, Species: Falcipennis canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies:
Falcipennis canadensis atratus (Grinnell, 1910)
Falcipennis canadensis canace (Linnaeus, 1766)
Falcipennis canadensis canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Falcipennis canadensis franklinii (Douglas, 1829)
Falcipennis canadensis torridus (Uttal, 1939)
Falcipennis canadensis osgoodi (Bishop, 1900)