Falcipennis
Encyclopedia
Falcipennis is a genus of birds in the grouse
Grouse
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...

 family that comprises two very similar species:
  • Siberian Grouse
    Siberian Grouse
    The Siberian Grouse, Falcipennis falcipennis, is a medium-sized grouse.It is very similar to the North American Spruce Grouse, to which it is closely related.The Siberian grouse mostly occurs in forests of spruce, fir, larch and pine...

    , Falcipennis falcipennis
  • Spruce Grouse
    Spruce Grouse
    The Spruce Grouse or Canada Grouse 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...

    , Falcipennis canadensis


Both inhabit northern coniferous forests
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

 and live on conifer needles during the winter. Both have breeding systems with dispersed male territories, intermediate between the leks of some grouse and the monogamy
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...

 of others (Storch and Bendell 2003).

Etymology

Falcipennis means "sickle-winged" in New Latin
New Latin
The term New Latin, or Neo-Latin, is used to describe the Latin language used in original works created between c. 1500 and c. 1900. Among other uses, Latin during this period was employed in scholarly and scientific publications...

; the wings are swept back in flight (Holloway 2003).
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