Top 10 facts about grouse

Today is the start of the grouse shooting season

TODAY is The Glorious Twelfth, the traditional start of the grouse shooting season.

1. There are 18 species of grouse, all of which live in the colder regions of the northern hemisphere.

2. Their nostrils, legs and toes are feathered which keeps them warm and helps movement across the snow. Their toe feathers act like snowshoes.

3. Grouse do not nest in trees and live at ground level but they can fly short distances.

4. The first recorded reference to grouse dates back to 1531 when it was spelt “grows”.

5. The earliest recorded use of the verb “to grouse” meaning to complain or sulk was in a poem by Rudyard Kipling in 1877.

6. The scientific name of the ruffed grouse is bonasa umbellus, the first word of which some say comes from the Latin for “good when roasted”.

7. Another explanation is that “bonasa” means “bull-like” and refers to the drumming of male grouse sounding like the bellowing of a bull.

8. “Umbellus” refers to the umbrella-like ruff of feathers displayed by the male when courting.

9. The sage grouse has a comical mating dance that has been parodied in folk dance in both the USA and Alpine regions.

10. Since 1931, the ruffed grouse has been the state bird of Pennsylvania.