Upland Game Birds

Identification

by tail feathers

legs or feet unfeathered

legs scaly

Centre tail feathers long, barred & pointed

  • smaller grayish bird
  • short tail
  • brown feathers on breast

Gray Partridge

  • Gray bird w black v-shaped bib
  • white belly
    • black barred sides

Chukar

legs feathered

tail feathers pointed

middle two tail feathers
longer and darker than rest of tail

Sharp-tailed Grouse

tail feathers blunt,
square-tipped

  • tail shows:
    • wide dark band
    • edged w gray
  • prominent dark neck ruffs

Ruffed Grouse

not as above

  • tail feathers dark,
    • tipped w rusty brown
  • red wattle over eye

spruce grouse

  • tail feathers dark
    • entirely dark or gray terminal band
    • yellow wattles over eye

blue grouse

completely feathered
legs & feet

Ptarmigan

  • Willow
  • Rock
  • White-tailed

General traits

  • gallinacious
    (chicken-like)

Ring-necked pheasant

  • young retain pointed outer wing feathers
    • adults have roudn-tipped outer wing feathers
  • short, rounded wings adapted for short flights
  • strong legs for running
  • adept at hiding in cover
  • breeding requires the right amount of moisture & warmth

Migratory

Mourning dove

Band-tailed pigeon

Resident

Native

Ptarmigan

Species

Grouse

Introduced

Ring-necked pheasant

Gray Partridge (Hun)

Chukar

Quail

Wild turkey

species

Traits

  • dull brown or gray
  • sexes similar
  • ground nester, shallow hole in soil lined with grass
  • feathered legs & feet

Spruce

  • high elevation conifer forests
  • gray upper body with black bars
  • black lower body with white bars
  • red eye comb in males

blue

  • low elevation (nesting)
  • high elevation (late season)
  • conifer forests
  • mottled gray-blue body
  • mottled brown wings
  • yellow comb in males

ruffed

  • lower elevation mixed/open forests
  • mottled brown body
  • tail
    • many narrow, parallel black bands
    • single wide black band
  • head crest
  • male has black neck ruff

sharp-tailed

  • open parklands of Peace & Cariboo
  • brownish & heavily barred
  • V-shaped marks on chest & belly
  • pointed tail often up
  • male has yellow comb and purplish neck sacs

Traits

  • very large
  • both sexes iridescent dark brown
  • naked head
  • males:
    • colourful, fleshy parts on head & neck
    • tuft of hair-like feathers on chest
  • van island, Gulf Islands, Okanagan, Kootenays

California

Mountain


  • white-tailed
  • Gallinaceous
  • alpine tundra habitat
  • colour:
    • mixed white, brown, black body in summer;
    • white in winter
  • heavily feathered feet and legs
  • sexes similar
  • forward curving head plumes
  • SE van island, gulf islands, Okanagan
  • both sexes gray-brown
  • heavy black bars on white flanks
  • black bar on forehead, cheeks, eyes, chest
  • dry grassland and desert
  • interior and gulf islands
  • will often run away rather than fly.
  • Large males
    • bright colours
  • smaller, browner females
  • longer & larger than sharp-tailed grouse
  • agricultural lands in south BC
  • may run from an approaching human
  • both sexes gray brown
  • rusty face and throat
  • barred flanks
  • short brown tail
  • grasslands of southern interior
  • like domestic pigeon
  • blue-gray body
  • purplish head and breast
  • white bar on back of neck
  • pale gray band on tail
  • yellow legs
    both sexes similar
  • southwest coast and expanding in south BC
  • streamlined
  • small head
  • long, pointed tail
  • slaty-blue above, red below
  • white spots on tail
  • black spots on cheeks
  • legs and feet red
  • South BC
  • SE van island
  • head plumes tilted back

brown and gray-blue

Back to Animals

Introduced, non-native

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Rock

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Willow

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behaviour

  • run from danger rather than fly
  • do not flush when
    frightened
  • live in high alpine habitat and tundra
    areas

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tolerates humans