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Black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) are large game birds found across the Palearctic. They spend the winter perched in dense forests and females of this species take all responsibility for nesting and caring for the chicks, as typical with most galliforms.
The male's fancy plumage is predominantly black with deep-blue hues on his neck and back, which contrasts the white wingline and undertail coverts, as well as red bare skin above each eye. The female is much drabber and cryptically colored to blend in easily with the dense undergrowth, especially when nesting. The Black grouse, along with the Caucasian grouse, has long outer rectrices (tail feathers) that curl outward and are arranged in a way it resembles the frame of a Greek lyre, hence the genus name, Lyrurus.
Black grouse are found across Europe (Swiss-Italian-French Alps especially) from Great Britain through Scandinavia, Estonia, and across Russia. In Asia, they also inhabit parts of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, and possibly Korea. Black grouse inhabit transitionary zones between forests and open clearings, especially steppe, heathland, grassland, and pasture when near agricultural fields. Depending on the season, they will overwinter in dense forests with coniferous and broadleaf trees, such as Scots pine, Siberian larch, silver birch, and Eurasian aspen. Throughout the spring and summer, they favor open spaces. They avoid the most extreme of desert and polar regions.
