Red grouse in the Scottish Highlands

Red grouse in the Scottish Highlands

Snowfall in the Scottish Highlands shouldn’t make the feet of the red grouse too cold - its legs and toes are covered with pale feathers. That’s the inspiration for this groundbird’s scientific name: ‘lagopus scoticus’, which translates from Greek to English as ‘hare foot of Scotland’. You can find this cold-tolerant grouse on most of the British Isles, where it feeds on the heather in the English, Irish and Scottish moors.