Conservation status: Amber
The red grouse is a medium-sized game bird. It has a plump body, a short tail and a lightly hook-tipped bill. It is reddish-brown, with its legs and feet covered in pale feathers. Birds breed in the UK in the uplands of the north and west and are resident all year round, travelling very little in their lives. The population is declining, perhaps linked to diseases and the loss of heather moorland.
Latin name
Lagopus lagopus
Family
Grouse (Tetraonidae)
Where to see them
The best place to see this bird is on upland heather moors, when is suddenly rockets up from the heather when disturbed to fly off with fast-whirring wingbeats.
When to see them
All year round
What they eat
Heather, seeds, berries, insects
Population
| Europe | UK breeding* | UK wintering* | UK passage* | | - | 155,000 pairs | - | - |