The grouse changes color

The color-shifting grouse is a forest bird with the scientific name Lagopus mutus , often living on trees and bushes in highland forest areas.

At a young age they ate both insects and invertebrates, but when they grew up L.mutus grouse changed to "vegetarian" - they only ate plants, mainly seeds and buds.

The legs and nails of this particular bird have a lot of feathers and have a very beneficial effect: help them walk on soft snow without sinking. Roof grouse is slightly smaller than empty grouse.

The most special feature of this L.mutus chicken is that the coat changes color three times in a row during the year: in winter, summer and autumn. That's why they easily camouflage their living environment.

Partridge (left) and male grouse (right) in summer

When winter comes, rooster feathers and hens are completely white except for the black tail feathers. Their fur turns white the most in January and February - the two coldest months of the year and often has lots of snow. In summer, the upper part of the hens' coat is brown, the rooster is gray; Their wings and abdomen are white. This coat is in harmony with the forest landscape in the summer.

The rooster has a red piece of leather on the upper eyelid, normally obscured by hair, but in the breeding season, the rooster will find a way to 'show off' the beauty on its eyes.

The courtship of the rooster is also very strange: the rooster circled the hens and scanned a wing on the ground, spreading its tail while revealing the red skin on the upper border of the eye.

The L.mutus grouse is a non-migratory bird, one of the few birds that can survive the harsh winter. In the winter, roosters and hens live separately: there are herds of only roosters, with only hens. These birds flocked to the beginning of spring. At that time, the rooster will choose for itself a land and protect its vast territory. Aerial chases often occur when strangers invade the territory.

The nest of this bird is often made in the soil or occasionally made between rocks or in the grove of trees. The nest is lined with grass or feathers. Each year, the chickens only give birth to one litter, and each litter has 3-12 eggs. Only one hen hatching eggs, eggs will start to hatch after 24-26 days of incubation.

Chicks can leave the nest only a short time after hatching. The chickens follow their children, but the chicks find their own food. Young grouse grow very fast, after 10 days it can fly.

This body of L.mutus partridge is about 35cm long, weighs about 510 grams, they are present in Europe, Asia and North America.