Hazel Grouse

The Hazel Grouse is one of the smaller grouse, with intricately barred and mottled grey-brown plumage that blends into the forest floor. Both sexes have a short crest and dark tail band; males show a black throat bordered in white. Its secretive habits and preference for dense woodland make it difficult to watch, and a thin whistled call or the whir of departing wings often reveals it first (Wikipedia, general species account).

Hazel Grouse feed on buds, shoots, leaves, berries and seasonal invertebrates, shifting location as snow melts and food becomes available. The nest is a shallow ground scrape hidden by vegetation. Birds generally remain in dense temperate and boreal woodland, where their patterned plumage provides effective concealment among leaf litter and low growth (Wikipedia, general species account). The Korean catalogue records the species in South Korea.