Male Red Grouse on British moorland in Spring
Male Red Grouse on British moorland in Spring. The Red Grouse, Lagopus lagopus scotica, is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the Willow Ptarmigan but is sometimes considered to be a separate species, Lagopus scotica. It is also known as the moorfowl or moorbird. The Red Grouse is endemic to the British Isles; it has developed in isolation from other subspecies of the Willow Ptarmigan which are widespread in northern parts of Eurasia and North America. It is found across most parts of Scotland, including Orkney, Shetland and most of the Outer Hebrides. They are only absent from urban areas, such as the Central Belt, the flatter areas of the north-east and around Fife. In Wales there are strong populations in places but their range has retracted. They are now largely absent from the far south, their main strongholds being Snowdonia, the Brecon Beacons and the Cambrian Mountains. There are reports of Welsh birds crossing the Bristol Channel to Exmoor. In England it is mainly found in the north – places such as the Lake District, Northumberland, County Durham, much of Yorkshire, the Pennines and the Peak District, as far south as the Staffordshire Moorlands. There is an isolated introduced population on Dartmoor, and overspill Welsh birds visit the Shropshire Hills such as Long Mynd, where they breed. The Exmoor population would now appear to be extinct, with the last birds sighted as recently as 2005. An introduced population in Suffolk died out by the early 20th century, though a population on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire lasted longer. In Ireland it is found locally in most parts of the country: it is commonest in Mayo, where the population is increasing, and on the Antrim plateau, with other healthy populations in the Slieve Bloom mountains and the Knockmealdown mountains; a few pairs still breed in south County Dublin.
Size: 4896px × 3264px
Location: Goyt Valley, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Kit Day / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: adult, barbaric, beautiful, bird, birding, birdwatching, britain, calling, cock, comb, dales, derbyshire, england, food, gamebird, great, grit, grouse, head, hill, horizontal, lagopus, landscape, moor, moorbird, moorfowl, moorland, moorlands, mountains, red, road, rock, scotica, scotland, shoot, shooting, sport, spring, uk, upland, uplands, yorkshire
