Sangster, G, Collinson, JM, Kirwan, GM, Knox, AG, McMahon, BJ, Parkin, D, Schweizer, M & Höglund, J 2022. The taxonomic status of Red Grouse. British Birds 115: 28–38.
The Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica is a well-known but declining bird endemic to Britain and Ireland. Its taxonomic status was downgraded from species to subspecies in the mid-twentieth century but without any clear rationale. Here, we review the molecular evidence that has accumulated since the mid 1980s and address three issues: (i) the evolutionary distinctiveness of Red Grouse, (ii) the implications on the taxonomic status of Red Grouse from the ‘intermediate’, west Norwegian insular form L. l. variegata, and (iii) whether the Irish population (L. l. ‘hibernica’) merits taxonomic recognition. Combining modern taxonomic approaches with recent molecular data, including genome-wide analyses, we demonstrate that there are good reasons to treat Red Grouse as a full species, and that Irish birds may be recognisable as a distinct taxon that should be managed as a separate conservation unit from Red Grouse in Britain.
