The past twelve months captured in photographs
Widespread across Eurasia as far east as Ukraine and Russia, the black grouse is adapted to an extensive array of open habitats, including steppe, heathland, grassland, and pasture.
A huge game bird of conifer forest and moorland, the range of the western capercaillie stretches across northern parts of Europe and as far east as central Siberia and northwest Mongolia.
Native to the Rocky Mountains in North America, this large chicken-like bird is distinguished by a yellow eyebrow that turns red during courtship. Reddish bare neck patches are visible when displaying.
This stocky member of the grouse family is native to the prairies of North America. Known for its mating ritual known as booming, the bird is listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The courtship display of the greater sage-grouse is one of the most compelling in the birdworld. It puffs its chest and fans its starburst tail like an avant-garde turkey. The largest grouse in North America, it's also listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.
The range of the hazel grouse is extensive, taking in central and eastern Europe all the way east to Japan. A diminutive bird sometimes called a hazel hen, this species is at home in dense, damp coniferous woodland.
Found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland, the red grouse is familiar to millions as the bird depicted as the logo of The Famous Grouse whisky.
The willow ptarmigan is a species supremely adapted to its environment, turning snowy white in winter and an intricate mix of reds and browns in summer. It breeds in birch and other forests and moorlands in northern Europe, and is also found in Scandinavia, Siberia, Canada, and Alaska, where it is the state bird.
Known simply as the ptarmigan in the United Kingdom, this member of the grouse family turns snowy white in winter. It calls the northern reaches of Europe, the Arctic and Subarctic Eurasia, and North America home.
Native to North America, the sharp-tailed grouse is named for its pointed central tail feathers. The purple skin patches on the neck are only visible during courtship displays.
Easily identified during peak display periods for the remarkable "fried egg" patch of skin on its neck, the sooty grouse is a forest-dwelling native to North America's Pacific coast ranges.
Shy and and inconspicuous in the coniferous forests of North America, the spruce grouse spends much of its time on the ground or along tree limbs.
The rounded, diminutive white-tailed ptarmigan is the smallest member of the grouse family. Speckled in gray and brown in summer but with pale tail feathers, the bird turns wholly white in winter. It is native to Alaska and the mountainous parts of Canada and the western United States.
The exotically named Lady Amherst's pheasant is named for British naturalist and botanist Sarah Amherst (1762–1838), who introduced the first specimen of the bird to London in 1828. The bird is native to southwestern China and far northern Myanmar.
Endemic to the mountain forests of central China, the handsome blue eared pheasant is identified by its velvet black crown, short red facial feathers, and long white ear coverts behind the eyes.
As its name suggests, this member of the pheasant family listed by the IUCN as Near Threatened is found in southeast Tibet and adjacent northern India. The bird enjoys the high life, roaming at altitudes of between 3,000 and 5,000 m (9,800 and 16,400 ft).
The IUCN lists Bulwer's pheasant as Vulnerable due to a rapidly declining population. The bird is endemic to the island of Borneo, where habitat loss and fragmentation due to commercial logging and forest fires is compounding its recovery.
The ring-necked pheasant is the name used for this species in North America. Anywhere else it's known as the common pheasant. It is one of the best-known game birds in the world—and one of the most hunted! Widely distributed, the ring-necked pheasant is the state bird of South Dakota.
The gray peacock pheasant get its name from the striking green-blue 'eye' pattern on the feathers of its back. Distributed in lowland and hill forests of Bangladesh, Northeast India, and Southeast Asia, the species is also known as the Burmese peacock pheasant due to its status as the national bird of Myanmar.
Also celebrated for its striking plumage—a pattern of highly iridescent electric blue-violet and metallic green-turquoise—the Palawan peacock-pheasant is only found in the Palawan Islands in the Philippines. As such, the IUCN lists this bird as Vulnerable.
A small ground-dwelling bird that serves as the state bird of California, this good-looking quail is endemic to southwestern United States but has been introduced to many countries around the world, including Brazil and South Africa, and to Norfolk Island and King Island in Australia.
Similar in looks to its California cousin, Gambel's quail is named in honor of American naturalist William Gambel (1823–1849). A desert-dwelling bird, it is distributed throughout the southwestern United States and as far south as Baja California in Mexico.
Game birds extend to wading species, such as snipe. Wilson's snipe, named for renowned Scottish-American ornithologist Alexander Wilson (1766–1813), is a dainty-looking shorebird and a year-round resident of the US Pacific Coast.
Widely distributed throughout the world, the pin-tailed snipe is so named for its pin-like outer feathers that produce a whistling noise when the bird is in flight.
Native to southern Chile and Argentina, the elegant crested tinamou is terrestrial in nature due to its poor flying ability. Partridge-shaped with rounded wings, this species lays eggs that at first glance appear like oversized limes.
A small, quiet shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America, the woodcock is blessed with mottled brown, black, and gray plumage that provides excellent camouflage. It is known for its unique and evocative courtship display, and is welcomed as a harbinger of spring by many in northern regions.
The chukar is native across the Middle East and vast areas of Asia but is also found in the United States and parts of South America, introduced in these regions as a game bird.
Evaluated as Vulnerable by the IUCN, the crested partridge is a resident of the lowland rainforests of southeast Asia. The bushy red crest on its head gives the species its name. It's a bird that spends much of its time on the forest floor.
A rotund bird with distinctive black and pale buff-brown feathering, the red-legged partridge is found in England and Wales and throughout southwestern Europe. It's one of the most iconic game birds across Iberia and southern Mediterranean countries.
Endemic to Borneo and faring far better in numbers than Bulwer's pheasant, the crimson-headed partridge is notable for its dark blackish body and crimson red head. It is found in lower mountain forests and in woodlands near streams and rivers.
An earth-colored partridge with a black throat and white cheeks, this species of game bird calls southwestern China and Southeast Asia home, where it forages on the floor of subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest habitats.
Sources: (IUCN Red List) (Bird Names For Birds) (Britannica)
See also: Grounded! Flightless birds of the world
Game birds include partridges, grouse, and pheasants, among others. There are dozens of different species found around the world, but, if asked, how many could you identity? Rather than wing it, why not browse this list of more unusual game birds you've probably never heard of. Click on!
Amazing game birds you've never seen before
How many game birds can you identify?
LIFESTYLE Birdlife
Game birds include partridges, grouse, and pheasants, among others. There are dozens of different species found around the world, but, if asked, how many could you identity? Rather than wing it, why not browse this list of more unusual game birds you've probably never heard of. Click on!