Dendragapus
Male dusky grouse displaying, Yellowstone NP; note purple air sac and red eye wattle.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Tribe:	Tetraonini
Genus:	Dendragapus Elliot, 1864
Type species
Tetrao obscurus
Species
Dusky grouseDendragapus obscurus Sooty grouseDendragapus fuliginosus
Synonyms
Palaeotetrix

The genusDendragapus contains two closely relatedspecies of grouse that have often been treated as a single variable taxon (blue grouse). The two species are thedusky grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and thesooty grouse (Dendragapus fuliginosus).^[1] In addition, thespruce grouse andSiberian grouse have been considered part of this genus.

These are largegrouse that inhabit highland regions ofNorth America andEurasia. The sooty grouse is found in thePacific Coast Ranges andSierra Nevada, and the dusky grouse in theRocky Mountains.^[2][3][4] These two taxa were originally regarded as separate species, but were considered conspecific for much of the twentieth century. However, in 2006 theAmerican Ornithologists' Union re-split them,^[1] following the DNA-based work of Barrowclough et al. (2004).^[5] whose results supported the earlier work of Brooks (1929)^[6] who regarded the two taxa as separate species based on morphology, behavior and vocalizations. The precise ranges of the two species are well-defined in the south, separated by extensive areas of unsuitable forest-free habitat, but somewhat uncertain in the north of the range of the genus where there is no separation; Barrowclough et al.'s study did not include these northern populations.

Adults have a long square tail, gray at the end (lighter in the sooty grouse). Adult males are mainly dark (especially sooty grouse) with a yellow (sooty grouse) or purplish (dusky grouse)throat air sac surrounded by white, and a yellow (sooty grouse) or yellow-to-red (dusky grouse) wattle over the eye duringdisplay. Adult females of both species are mottled brown with dark brown and white marks on the underparts.^[4]

Their breeding habitat is the edges ofconifer and mixed forests in mountainous regions ofNorth America and Eurasia. Their range is closely associated with that of various conifers. The nest is a scrape on the ground concealed under a shrub or log.

All species have healthy populations, except for some population decline and habitat loss of the sooty grouse at the southern end of its range in southern California,^[2] and the Siberian grouse which is considered near-threatened.

GenusDendragapus –Elliot, 1864 – two species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Dusky grouse Male Female	Dendragapus obscurus (Say, 1822) Four subspecies D. o. obscurus(Say, 1822) D. o. oreinus(Behle & Selander, 1951) D. o. pallidus(Swarth, 1931) D. o. richardsonii(Douglas, 1829)	the Rocky Mountains in North America	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC
Sooty grouse Male Female	Dendragapus fuliginosus (Ridgway, 1873) Four subspecies D. f. fuliginosus(Ridgway, 1873) D. f. howardi(Dickey & Van Rossem, 1923) D. f. sierrae(Chapman, 1904) D. f. sitkensis(Swarth, 1921)	from southeastern Alaska and Yukon south to California	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC

Late Pleistocenefossil species that have been described areDendragapus gilli (western and west-central US), initially placed in a distinct genusPalaeotetrix, andDendragapus lucasi (known only fromFossil Lake, US).

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDendragapus fuliginosus.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDendragapus obscurus.

• Dendragapus
• Bird genera
• Birds of North America

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• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with 'species' microformats
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• Taxonbars of monotypic genera missing species