Male distinctive, with long, lyre-shaped tail and white undertail coverts; shows white wing stripe in flight. Female warm brown with heavy dark barring; compare to smaller and rustier Willow Ptarmigan (known in Great Britain and Ireland as “Red Grouse”), which shows a solidly dark tail in flight. In early spring, males gather around dawn to display, fanning their deeply forked tails and fluffing their white undertail coverts while giving a low churring call. Habitat varies throughout range, but generally favors more open forests and forest margins, as well as upland steppes, heathlands, and moors. In southern parts of range, such as the Alps, favors denser forests with conifer stands.