Kingdom Animalia Class Aves Family Phasianidae | Phylum Chordata Order Galliformes Subfamily Tetraoninae | |
Similar Sumatran partridge, Grey‑striped francolin, Schlegel's francolin, Ring‑necked francolin, Mount Cameroon francolin | ||
Franklin's grouse (F. franklinii) of British Columbia and the Rocky Mountains was recently split as a distinct species from Falcipennis canadensis and also consists of the subspecies isleibi in Prince of Wales Island and nearby Alexander Archipelago in southeast Alaska.
It closely resembles the Spruce Grouse but the male's tail is entirely black lacking the chestnut terminal tail band of the Spruce Grouse, and has white spots overlying it. Territorial males are notable for their wing-clap display. At the end of a short flight through the trees, the wings are brought together over the back so as to produce two sharp claps, about 0.5 s apart, loud enough to be heard by the human ear 150 m away. These territorial displays can sometimes be elicited by similar hand clapping, and can be used to detect male territories and estimate their density.