Tympanuchus is a small genus of birds in the grouse

Grouse

Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...

 family. It contains three species:

• Sharp-tailed Grouse
  Sharp-tailed Grouse
  The Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus , is a medium-sized prairie grouse. It is also known as the sharptail, and is known as "fire grouse" or "fire bird" by Native American Indians due to their reliance on brush fires to keep their habitat open.-Taxonomy:The Greater Prairie-chicken,...
  
  , Tympanuchus phasianellus
• Greater Prairie-Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido
• Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus

All three are among the smaller grouse, from 40 to 43 cm (16 to 17 in) in length. They are found in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 in different types of prairie

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

s. In courtship display on leks, males make hooting sounds and dance with the head extended straight forward, the tail up, and colorful neck sacks inflated (shown in the photograph at upper right). Tympanuchus comes from Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 roots and means "holding a drum"; it refers to the membranous

Biological membrane

A biological membrane or biomembrane is an enclosing or separatingmembrane that acts as a selective barrier, within or around a cell. It consists of a lipid bilayer with embedded proteins that may constitute close to 50% of membrane content...

 neck sacks and the drum-like call of the Greater Prairie-Chicken.

The two prairie-chickens are particularly closely related and look extremely similar.

The extinct Heath Hen

Heath Hen

The Heath Hen was a distinctive subspecies of the Greater Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido, a large North American bird in the grouse family, or possibly a distinct species....

of the American east coast, usually considered a subspecies of the Greater Prairie-Chicken, has been considered a separate species.