black grouse

en-noun

black grouse (plural black grouse or black grouses)

black grouse (plural)
black grouses (plural)

/ˈblæk ɡɹɑʊs/

The shy black grouse, “with an eye on every feather,” can only thrive in vast, absolutely undisturbed heath and moorlands. Therefore, unfortunately, there are not too many black grouse.

1979, Rien Poortvliet, translated by Marlies Comjean, “The Black Grouse”, in The Living Forest: A World of Animals, New York, N.Y.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.; Peacock Press/Bantam Books, →ISBN:

Lyrurus tetrix
Lyrurus tetrix#Translingual

Tetrao tetrix
Tetrao tetrix#Translingual

A large, black bird with a lyre-shaped tail, Lyrurus tetrix (syn. Tetrao tetrix).


capercaillie

Borrowed from Scots capercailzie (for the -z-, see Mackenzie and tailzie), a corruption of Scottish Gaelic capall (“horse”) + coille (“of the woods”).

western capercaillie
western capercaillie

Tetrao urogallus
Tetrao urogallus#Translingual

A large, black grouse of the genus Tetrao in the bird family Phasianidae, especially the western capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus.


caper

From Latin capparis, from Ancient Greek κάππαρις (kápparis).


grouse

grouse (countable and uncountable, plural grouse or grouses)

Attested in the 1530s, as grows ("moorhen"), a plural used collectively.
The origin of the noun is unknown; the following derivations have been suggested:
* From Old French grue (“crane”) (modern French grue) or Medieval Latin gruta (“crane”), both from Latin grūs (“crane”).
* Borrowed from Celtic or a different Medieval Latin word.
* Imitative of the bird’s call.
The verb is derived from the noun.

unknown

unknown

(red grouse):

Among fowls for the table [of King Henry VIII] are crocards, winders, runners, grows, and peions, but neither Turky or Guiney-fowl.

1531 January, “XXI. Extracts from a MS. Dated ‘apud Eltham, mense Jan. 22 Hen. VIII.’ Communicated to the Society by Owen Salusbury Brereton, Esq; Read at the Society of Antiquaries, April 9, 1772.”, in Archaeologia: Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, volume III, London: […] Society [of Antiquaries of London]; and by Messieurs Whiston, White, Robson, Baker and Leigh, and Brown, published 1775, →OCLC, page 157:

Looke to 't, young growſe: Ile lay it on, and ſure; / Take 't off who's wull.

1633 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “A Tale of a Tub. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 70:

I don’t know whether someone will go to the North Face this year. There you can find pure loneliness. In the base camp, you are only joined by snow grouses. Otherwise, it is extremely quiet, and you have the view of the North Face. You won’t meet anyone at the Kangshung Face too.

2015 February 14, “Kaltenbrunner: “All Everest parties around one table!””, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 2023-01-31:

(countable) Any of various game birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae which inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere; specifically, the red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica) native to heather moorland on the British Isles.

طَيْهُوج

any of various game birds of the subfamily Tetraoninae


grouse

en-adj

grouse (comparative grouser, superlative grousest)

grouser (comparative)
grousest (superlative)

Uncertain; possibly from British dialectal groosh (“excellent, very good”) (Lothian (Scotland)), grosh (northeast Lancashire) and groshy (“having thriving vegetation; juicy and tender; of weather: good for vegetation, rainy”) (Lancashire, Yorkshire), grushie (“having thriving vegetation”) (Scotland); from Scots groosh (“excellent, very good”) (Lothian, obsolete), grush (obsolete), grushie, grushy (“growing healthily or lushly; excellent, very good”) (both archaic), from gross (“lacking refinement, coarse; fat; large”) + -ie (suffix meaning ‘rather, somewhat’).

I had a grouse day.    That food was grouse.

Real grouse birthday this. First time he's had a party.

1965, Mudrooroo, Wild Cat Falling, HarperCollins, published 2001, page 99:

They were the grousest ladies she′d ever met.

1991, Tim Winton, Cloudstreet, Scribner Paperback Fiction, published 2002, page 182:

Not a question but the gag of Mulder pissing on the ID4 poster was grouse.

1998 July 23, Stujo, “SPOILER FTF - questions”, in aus.tv.x-files (Usenet):

I know, but I moved from riding bikes to flying and it is a great move. All riders without a fear of heights I know that flew with me thought it was grouse- and there are no coppers or speed limits up there.

2003 October 4, Leeroy, “FS Ultralight Aircraft”, in aus.motorcycles (Usenet):

(Australia, New Zealand, slang) Excellent.


ptarmigan

en-noun

ptarmigan (plural ptarmigan or ptarmigans)

From Scottish Gaelic tarmachan, of unknown origin. The pt- comes from a mistaken belief in a Greek origin, as if related to ptero- (“wing”).

Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia.


moorhen

From Middle English morhen, perhaps from Old English *mōrhenn, an alteration of Old English worhenn (compare coordinate masculine term mōrhana, a possible corruption of worhana (“pheasant”)), equivalent to moor + hen.

(British) A female red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scotica.


wood grouse

wood grouse (plural wood grouses or wood grouse)

wood grouses (plural)
wood grouse (plural)

(ornithology) The capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus.


ruffed grouse

Bonasa umbellus
Bonasa umbellus#Translingual

An American game bird, Bonasa umbellus; the male makes drumming sounds with its wings


willow grouse

Lagopus lagopus
Lagopus lagopus#Translingual

Lagopus lagopus, a medium-sized bird in the grouse family.


hazel grouse

Tetrastes bonasia
Tetrastes bonasia#Translingual

A bird in the grouse family, Tetrastes bonasia, native to most of temperate-cool Eurasia.


western capercaillie

western capercaillie (plural western capercaillies)


moorfowl

It was overgrown by enormous beds of reeds, in which moorfowl, water-hens, and coots abounded[…]

1902 January 3, “A Smuggling Adventure”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 22, page 692:


red grouse

A medium-sized bird, Lagopus lagopus scotica, of the grouse family, found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland.


black cock

(Scotland, Wales, Northern England) Alternative form of blackcock (“the black grouse”).


black game

(Scotland, Wales, Northern England) The black grouse.


sage grouse

sage grouse (plural sage grouse or sage grouses)

sage grouse (plural)
sage grouses (plural)

Centrocercus urophasianus
Centrocercus urophasianus#Translingual

A large grouse of western North America having mottled gray, black and buff plumage (Centrocercus urophasianus) which feeds on the buds of the sagebrush.

Centrocerus urophasianus

sage hen, sagehen, sage cock, sage chicken, sage-grouse, cock of the plains


cock of the plains

cock of the plains (plural cocks of the plains)


prairie chicken

prairie chicken (plural prairie chickens)

ᏢᏗᏍᏗ

flightless bird of the genus Tympanuchus

greater prairie chicken
greater prairie chicken

Tympanuchus cupido
Tympanuchus cupido#Translingual

Any of the genus Tympanuchus of grouse, native to the prairies of North America

greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) including the extinct heath hen

lesser prairie chicken
lesser prairie chicken

Tympanuchus pallidicinctus
Tympanuchus pallidicinctus#Translingual

lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)

Tympanuchus phasianellus
Tympanuchus phasianellus#Translingual

sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus)


willow ptarmigan

willow ptarmigan (plural willow ptarmigans)


lagopus

From the Latin lagōpūs, from the Ancient Greek λαγώπους (lagṓpous), from λαγώς (lagṓs, “hare”) + πούς (poús, “foot”); compare lagopod, lagopode. The bird was given this name because its feet resemble those of a hare.


koklass

A pheasant of India and China, with a long central crest and two lateral crests on the head.


black-billed capercaillie

black-billed capercaillie (plural black-billed capercaillies)

Tetrao parvirostris
Tetrao parvirostris#Translingual

A large black grouse endemic to Siberia, closely related to western capercaillie; Tetrao parvirostris.


blackgame

blackgame (plural blackgames or blackgame)


heath hen

Any of an extinct subspecies of grouse that once lived in North America (†Tympanuchus cupido cupido).


greater prairie chicken

greater prairie chicken (plural greater prairie chickens)

Tympanuchus cupido, a large bird in the grouse family native to North America.


Caucasian grouse

Caucasian grouse (plural Caucasian grouse or Caucasian grouses)

Caucasian grouse (plural)
Caucasian grouses (plural)

Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi
Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi#Translingual

A large bird in the grouse family (Lyrurus mlokosiewiczi).


rock ptarmigan

A medium-sized gamebird in the grouse family, Lagopus muta.


white-tailed ptarmigan

white-tailed ptarmigan (plural white-tailed ptarmigans)

Lagopus leucura
Lagopus leucura#Translingual

The smallest bird in the grouse family, Lagopus leucura.


lesser prairie chicken

lesser prairie chicken (plural lesser prairie chickens)

Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, a species in the grouse family, is slightly smaller and paler than its near relative the greater prairie chicken.


dusky grouse

dusky grouse (plural dusky grouse or dusky grouses)

dusky grouse (plural)
dusky grouses (plural)

Dendragapus obscurus
Dendragapus obscurus#Translingual

A species of forest-dwelling grouse native to the Rocky Mountains in North America, Dendragapus obscurus.


spruce grouse

Falcipennis canadensis
Falcipennis canadensis#Translingual

A medium-sized grouse closely associated with the coniferous boreal forests or taiga of North America (Dendrapagus canadensis, syn. Falcipennis canadensis).


Siberian grouse

Siberian grouse (plural Siberian grouses)

Falcipennis falcipennis
Falcipennis falcipennis#Translingual

A medium-sized grouse, Falcipennis falcipennis.


grey hen

Alternative form: greyhen

I heard a grey hen cackling among the ling[.]

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 28:

That the British Greyhen differs from the typical Scandinavian bird (Lyrurus t. tetrix) has for some years been suspected by Witherby, who has been waiting to obtain sufficient material before coming to a definite conclusion. Recently Lönnberg, on comparing a Scottish killed Greyhen with Swedish birds, also noticed the differences between them.

1913, H.F. Witherby, Einar Lönnberg, “The British Black Grouse”, in British Birds Journal, volume 6, page 270:

Lyrurus tetrix
Lyrurus tetrix#Translingual

A female of the black grouse, Lyrurus tetrix.


gorhen

Probably from gore + hen, in reference to its red colour.


heather cock

Tetrao urogallus
Tetrao urogallus#Translingual

Synonym of wood grouse (Tetrao urogallus)


sharp-tailed grouse

sharp-tailed grouse (plural sharp-tailed grouses)

Any of species Tympanuchus phasianellus of grouses.


sooty grouse

Dendragapus fuliginosus
Dendragapus fuliginosus#Translingual

Any of species Dendragapus fuliginosus of grouses.