The reason they are called thus becomes obvious if you look at grouse feathers.
There are many species of grouse, and many of the feathers can be used, but for traditional soft hackles the British birds were of course used. Usually the red grouse.
The British red grouse ( Lagopus lagopus scoticus) also known as , moorfowl, moorbird, moor-bird, moorgame, moorhen - female red grouse, moorcock - male red grouse, is different from the continental version, the willow grouse, as it is a very much darker red/brown colour overall. The plumage varies a great deal, and no two birds are alike. This grouse population has crashed catastrophically in recent years, so that shooting has often been cancelled. Also, wire fences have proven to be deadly for these birds. They fly into them and injure or kill themselves. ( Not to be confused with the waterbird which is also known as a waterhen or moorhen). The “speckled Grouse quills” often specified in various patterns are usually taken from the tail. Also, speckled brown hen primaries are also often used as a substitute.
The capercaillie was extinct in Britain and is only now found in Scotland after being reintroduced.
Ptarmigan, the fourth British species, is only found on the high ranges in Scotland at about 3000 feet in the east of its range, and lower in its western ranges.For other grouse species see here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grouse
BLACKCOCK (Tetrao tetrix), is the common English name for this black grouse, the female is known as the grey hen, and the young as poults. The sexes differ markedly In size and plumage, the male weighs about 4 lb, it is mainly a rich glossy black, shot with blue and purple. The lateral tail feathers are curved outwards, and form, when erected, a fan-like crescent. The bird has bright red eyebrows with no feathers.
The female only weighs about 2 lbs, it is a russet brown colour, irregularly barred with black. Its tail feathers are only slightly forked.
When young. the plumage of both sexes is like that of the female, but after moulting the young males gradually assume the more brilliant dark plumage. There are many cases on record of old female birds assuming, the plumage of the male to a considerable extent. Blackcock is generally distributed in the high ranges of northern and central Europe, and in some parts of Asia. It may be found on heaths in the south of England, it is quite numerous in the Highlands of Scotland.
Black grouse or Blackcock are nevertheless a red list species, which now seem to be recovering somewhat.
Or partridge feathers. They look very similar;
Partridge. English partridge, also referred to ( correctly) as Hungarian partridge looks like this;
The skin shown is a hen. Sometimes there is not much difference between cocks and hens. This depends on habitat , feed,etc. Although cocks are often greyer and more finely marked. Hens can be much browner, and more heavily marked. These are most useful for a variety of patterns. One may also dye the grey feathers very successfully, either using dye, or marker pens. Using the pens means that one may dress a lot of different flies from one skin. Of course one may also tint the brown feathers as well if desired. The breast feathers are always a lighter colour, ( often light grey) than the back.
This is a tail feather, and a brown speckled hackle ( Not BARRED!)from the back of the bird. The barred hackles may be used, but they look slightly “odd” on some flies.
The brown back feathers are used for things like the Partridge and Orange, or March Brown, and the lighter grey breast feathers for the Yellow Partridge, but many many others as well. The wing coverts may be used, but all the covert hackles have a light yellowish stripe down the middle, which makes them look rather odd, so they are not used in any “standard” patterns. They work perfectly well for spiders though, and one can “dye” the stripe, using a black or dark brown marker pen.
Chinese or Asian partridge is a much smaller version of the Hungarian partridge, usually of very poor feather quality, and only has very few useful small feathers for dressing spider flies and similar, on the skin. They are often offered cheaply, but are not worth the money anyway.
As noted, Hungarian partridge may be dyed very well, and I have a range of dyed skins, some olives, green, orange , and a claret. My absolute favourite is this “Golden Olive” skin, which makes some excellent spiders, among other things. This skin was dyed after a lot of experimentation, using an extract of onion skins, and olive hot dye.Wet mayflies dressed with these hackles also seem particularly killing, and one may also use the breast hackles as fan wings on many mayfly ( British Usage. i.e. E.Danica) patterns.
For dressing wet flies the game bird hackles are better than poultry hackles.
TL
MC
It's pretty much identical to the one pictured here. i just knew it was hen.......