Upland Game Birds
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Upland Game Birds Odontophoridae (Quail; short, small birds of temperate forest or grassland areasareas that prefer to walk in dense grassland or scrub understory rather than fly which they can do for quick bursts of speed; eat seeds and insects ) • Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) 21 subspecies (Southeast and eastern) • Mountain Quail (Oreotyx pictus) 5 subspecies in Western US – chaparral habitat, CA, OR, WA, ID, NV • Montezuma Quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae), 1 subspecies in US – AZ, NM, TX • Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata) 3 subspecies in US, TX, NM, AZ, OK, CO • Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelii) TX, NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT • California Quail (Callipepla californica) 7 subspecies – CA, NV, OR, ID, WA, UT Phasianidae (family of chicken-like birds) • Grouse – spruce, blue, sharp-tailed, ruffed, sage • Ptarmigan – willow, rock, white-tailed • Prairie chickens – greater, lesser • Wild Turkey • Introduced birds – chukar, gray partridge, ring-necked pheasant The Grouse: chicken-like birds, primarily dwell on ground; elaborate courtship displays on certain grounds called “Leks”; polygamous; adults eat vegetation, while young feel on insects; range from sub-Artic to grasslands, forests, and near deserts. • Spruce grouse Falcipennis candensis • Blue grouse Dendragapus obscurus • Ruffed grouse Bonasa ubellus, eastern U,S, including KY • Sharp-tailed grouseTympanuchus phasianellus • Sage grouse Centrocercus urophasianus Prairie Chickens (elaborate social displays and body ornamentation) • Greater prairie chicken Tympanuchus cupido (Great Plains ND – OK) 1 endangered in TX • Lesser prairie chicken Tympanuchus pallidicinctus (OK, TX) – proposed listing as Threatened species – 6 month extension Ptarmigans (“snow chickens”); vegetation feeders • White-tailed Lagopus leucurus (smallest, shortest bill, only spp. Occur in lower 48) • Willow Lagopus lagopus (most common, not found above tree line, both sexes pure white in winter) • Rock Lagopus mutus (neck feathers more variegated, smaller bill, separated by habitat) Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) (insect, herps, veg feeders) • 5 subspecies (Eastern- most common, Rio Grande TX, OK, KS, CO, NM, CA, OR, WA, UT, NV, Merriam’s western US & SD, ND, NE, Osceola- FL, Gould’s – AZ, NM) Introduced • Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colcicus) – northern grassland states • Gray Partridge (Perdix perdix) – flat ag land northern states • Chukar (Alectoris chukar) – rocky desert canyons Columbidae (Pigeons and doves) • Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura); feeds on grains…cooing sound • White-winged (Zenaida asiatica) – AZ, TX, NM, CA, NV Others (Scolopacidae) • Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago • American Woodcock (timberdoodle) Scolopax minor (managed as eastern and central populations; these have unique morphological adaptations include hinge-tipped bill, “Sky breeding dance” in winter ) has an upside down brown, and ears between eyes and bill Ring-necked Pheasant Woodcock Northern Bobwhite Quail Greater Prairie Chicken Ruffed Grouse Mourning Dove Wild Turkey .