Field Guide
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Capercaillie
Tetrao urogallus
Not yet photographed by the community
Turkey-sized grouse of old Caledonian pinewoods; critically scarce.
Species Profile
Red List (Birds of Conservation Concern); classified as Endangered in the UK.
- Lifespan
- 8–10 years in the wild
- Size & Weight
- 60–90 cm, wingspan 90–125 cm; males 3.5–4.5 kg, females 1.5–2 kg
- Habitat
- Native coniferous and mixed forests with dense understorey, particularly old Caledonian pine forests with bilberry and heather ground cover.
- UK Distribution
- Resident only in the Scottish Highlands, with the largest population in the Cairngorms and other remnant populations in scattered locations; extirpated from the rest of Britain.
- Diet
- Herbivorous; feeds on bilberry, heather, pine shoots, needles, and buds; chicks initially take invertebrates before becoming herbivorous.
- Predators
- Golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, red foxes, pine martens, and crows; eggs and chicks vulnerable to adders and corvids.
- Mating Season
- April to May
- Breeding
- Clutch of 6–10 eggs, incubation period 26–28 days, single brood per year; males perform elaborate dawn leks to attract females.
- Behaviour
- Highly territorial males engage in dramatic competitive displays at traditional lek sites, with elaborate posturing, wing-drumming, and aggressive confrontations. Females are cryptic and solitary, remaining hidden in forest vegetation. Birds are generally sedentary and rarely move far from their territories.
- •The capercaillie was hunted to extinction in Britain by the 1770s and was reintroduced from Sweden in the 1830s.
- •Males produce loud, distinctive calls during the lek season, including explosive 'popping' sounds made by the tail feathers.
- •The species declined by approximately 60% in Scotland between 1994 and 2014, primarily due to habitat loss and fragmentation.
- •Capercaillies require old-growth forest with specific structural features; young conifer plantations are unsuitable.
- •Chicks suffer high mortality in poor weather; cold, wet springs significantly impact breeding success across Scottish populations.
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