Adult male. Photo: Claudine Lamothe/Flickr (CC BY NC 2.0)
Falcipennis canadensis
| Conservation status | Local populations fluctuate in numbers. May have declined in parts of southern edge of range, but still common in far north. |
|---|---|
| Family | Pheasants and Grouse |
| Habitat | Conifer forest, pines, muskeg. Almost always in conifer forest but not necessarily in spruce. Prime habitat includes burned areas grown up to dense stands of jack pine or lodgepole pine, also forests of spruce, subalpine fir, hemlock, with dense undergrowth. Also on blueberry barrens. During dispersal in fall, sometimes found in deciduous woods. |
Does much of its foraging on the ground in summer; forages almost entirely in trees in winter.
4-10, usually 5-7. Olive to buff, usually blotched with brown. Females of Franklin's race tend to lay fewer eggs. Incubation is by female only, about 20-24 days. When leaving nest, female may partly cover eggs with dry needles and leaves. Young: Downy young leave nest shortly after hatching. Female tends young, brooding them at night and in cool weather; young find all their own food. Young can make short flights at 6-8 days old, are full-grown at about 10-11 weeks, become independent at about 10-15 weeks.
Downy young leave nest shortly after hatching. Female tends young, brooding them at night and in cool weather; young find all their own food. Young can make short flights at 6-8 days old, are full-grown at about 10-11 weeks, become independent at about 10-15 weeks.
Mostly conifer needles. Adults are mostly vegetarian, feeding heavily on needles of pines, spruce, other conifers. Diet may be almost entirely conifer needles in winter. At other times also eats fresh green shoots and leaves of other plants, berries, flowers, insects, snails, and fungi. Very young birds may eat more insects.
Both females and males defend individual territories in breeding season. Male displays by drumming with wings, making deep thumping sound audible only at close range. Males of Franklin's race also make loud wing-clap in flight. In courtship, male raises and spreads tail, fluffs out feathers, postures in front of female. One male may mate with several females. Nest site is on ground under dense cover. Nest (built by female) is shallow depression, lined with a few needles and leaves.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
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