Shadow hen (SciiFii)

The shadow hen (Lyrurus nigreos), also known as the American black grouse, is a species of game bird in the grouse family, most closely related to the Eurasian black grouse, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the forests, wetlands, open woodlands, grasslands, and shrublands across North America to help boost biodiversity. The shadow hen is a large bird with males measuring roughly around 60 centimetres (24 inches) in length and weighing 1,100–1,250 grams (2.43–2.76 lbs), sometimes up to 2,100 grams (4.6 lb), with females approximately 45 centimeters (18 inches) and weighing 750–1,100 grams (1.65–2.43 lbs). The male's fancy plumage is predominantly black with deep-blue hues on his neck and back, which contrasts the white wingline and undertail coverts, as well as red bare skin above each eye. On the other hand, the female is much drabber and cryptically-colored to blend in easily with the dense undergrowth, especially when nesting. The shadow hen has a varied diet; the young feed entirely on invertebrates but adults eat the buds and shoots of a variety of vegetation. Shadow hen have a very distinctive and well-recorded courtship ritual. Every dawn in the spring, male shadow hen begin competition with other males in hopes of attracting a hen to mate with. They will display to signal their territory and vigor by fanning out their elaborate lyre-shaped tails and inflating their necks on designated open ground called a lek. Their song consists of a long, dove-like bubbling coo or murmur. Shadow hen females visiting the lek decide the overall healthiest male, though not all females may arrive at every lek. When mated successfully, she will fly away from the site to a suitable nesting site with an abundance of dense shrub or tall vegetation, often located at a tree base in between roots, under low branches, beside a boulder, or extremely rarely, a used raptor's, a corvid's, or a goblin's (dromaeosaur) nest 7 metres (23 feet) off the ground. A dent (23–28 centimetres (9.1–11.0 inches) wide by 10–11 centimetres (3.9–4.3 inches) deep) is scraped out on the dirt floor and cushioned with grasses, sticks, leaves, and feathers. About 6-11 pale buff eggs speckled brown are then laid in the nest, incubated for approx. 23–28 days. The chicks consume invertebrates, transitioning to more plant matter as they mature. By around 10–14 days and so forth, they are capable of short flights. The conservation status of the shadow hen is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts, the shadow hen's wide range and, compared to its relatives, its higher degree of tolerance towards human activities.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii