What feeds wood grouse? Wood grouse (bird): photo and description

Who is the wood grouse? What does he eat and where does he live? If you are interested to know the answers to these questions, then read the article. So, what is this bird?

Wood grouse: description of feathered handsome man

The capercaillie is a large bird of the order of the hens. It belongs to the family of pheasant. Males reach 6.5 kg in weight, the wingspan reaches 1.5 meters, their height is more than one meter. Color on the head, back, sides and neck is greyish-gray with a small black pattern, the abdomen and lower part of the wing are black with white spots, and the red goiter. Females are noticeably different. Their sizes are more compact, the maximum weight is just over two kilograms, the color of the spotted is in a reddish-yellow color scheme.

Habitat of this bird can be considered dense high-coniferous or mixed forests. The grouse is quite heavy, therefore it prefers to move through the forest in the daytime, in the evening rises to the high branches of trees. The flight is characterized by a deaf frequent heavy flapping of the wings. In summer, the capercaillie prefers a lonely way of life, does not participate in the upbringing of the chicks. During the winter, cautious birds gather in small groups.

Reproduction of beautiful birds

The grouse got its name due to the fact that during the current period it is filled with blood and swells the blade in the hearing aid and completely covers it, as a result, previously a very cautious and attentive black grouse becomes deaf and easily accessible to hunters and predators. The tampering takes place within a month, if everything went well, females create a nest on the ground, warm it with branches, feathers, moss and grass.

This shelter is well disguised from predators and protected from rain and wind. For a few days the female spreads from 6 to 8 eggs and incubates them for about a month. For the first few days, the chicks hide under their mother's wing, then quickly learn disguises, and in no time hide for a few seconds from predators so skillfully that not all hunting dogs detect them. The female alone protects and cares for chicks. When predators appear, she pretends to be wounded and distracts from the nest, giving time for the birds to hide in the bushes. Two weeks later, they begin to fly a short distance. In a month and a half, the chick moves like an adult capercaillie. In autumn, the birds begin to lead an independent life, first from the nest are separated young males, later females.

Meal in summer and autumn

What does wood grouse eat in the summer? The main part of the diet is plant food, namely flowers, young leaves of shrubs and trees (willow, birch, alder, aspen and others), seeds of herbaceous plants, stems of horsetails and ferns. The smaller part of the menu is occupied by food of animal origin, for example lizards, spiders, slugs and insects. By the way, the latter use in the diet mainly sick or shedding birds.

What feeds wood grouse in the forest in the fall? In the diet of birds during this period, various fruits and berries of trees and shrubs growing on the territory of distribution, as well as such a delicacy as an aspen leaf, are added .

Meal in the spring and winter

What does wood grouse eat in the winter? The main sources of food are pine needles, pine, in the absence of other species - spruce. In the early winter, berries of mountain ash and juniper are added to the diet. With the consumption of coarse fodder, the bird swallows a larger number of pebbles intended for grinding food.

What does the wood grouse eat in the spring? The main diet is fresh greens, buds, inflorescences of grasses and shrubs, young shoots of trees.

Content and meals at home

Wood grouse, a bird, the photo of which is presented above, unpretentious. The birds of this breed are well bred at home. In nature, birds die because of constant concern by people in the nesting area, for example, mushroom pickers and berry-heads. The timid chicks of the capercaillie do not eat well and are killed. Deforestation, especially in the territory of taming, leads to a decrease in nesting places for birds. Also influenced by such factors as the amount of precipitation. With slight loss of snow, birds can not hide and keep warm in it, so they freeze, predators exterminate a large population.

To keep this bird at home, you need to feed it properly. What kind of diet should she have?

What feeds wood grouse at home? The bird is unpretentious, consumes finely chopped vegetables, for example, cucumbers, carrots, beets and cabbage, cereals (oats, corn, barley, wheat, buckwheat, sunflower and hemp). Also, it is essential that the food habitual for it, that is, needles, deciduous trees, various twigs and buds, fresh foliage and grass, prevail.

A small conclusion

Now you know who the wood grouse is. The bird, the photo of which you see in our article, eats mainly vegetable food and grain. She can both live in the forest and be kept at home.