Granddad’s Camera
Capercaillie, as it appears in the game

No.070 · Birds · Very rare

Capercaillie

Tetrao urogallus

The size of a turkey, the largest grouse in the world, and one of Britain's most endangered birds; the cock performs in the pines at dawn each spring.

When to look

April to May, mostly at dawn.

Time of day

Best time
Dawn in April–early May at a lek, from a hide only; otherwise very hard to find, especially in winter.
Where in the game
the Cairngorms (pine forest)
Size
Male 74–90 cm, female 54–64 cm
Wingspan
Male 87–125 cm
Weight
Male about 4.3 kg, female up to 2 kg
Lifespan
Typically about 6 years once breeding (BTO)
Population
About 532 birds in Scotland in winter 2021–22 (95% confidence interval 227–810), 52% down on 1,114 in 2015–16 (RSPB Scotland national survey)
Status
Red (Birds of Conservation Concern 5, 2021)

Diet

Pine needles and shoots in winter, blaeberry shoots and berries in summer; chicks eat insects.

Habitat

Mature, open Scots pine forest with a blaeberry (bilberry) understorey.

Breeding

Males display at leks from about April to May. The hen lays typically 7–11 eggs in a ground scrape, incubates them for 24–26 days, and the chicks leave the nest within hours and can fly short distances at 2–3 weeks

Field signs

  • Droppings like fat cigars of pine needles on the forest floor
  • Dust bathing scrapes on tracks in the sun
  • Distinctive 'popping' and 'cork-pulling' sounds at dawn in spring
  • Wings drumming when a bird takes off

Did you know?

  • The male's display includes a sound like a popping cork followed by a drum-roll and a grinding.
  • The capercaillie died out in Scotland in the 18th century and was reintroduced in the 1830s (BTO); since the first national survey in 1992–94, the winter estimate has fallen from about 2,200 to 532.
  • Deer fences still kill capercaillie in some areas, and cold, wet weather in June can cut chick survival sharply (RSPB).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Cock on the lek April to May, dawn
    A huge black cock stands on a mossy stump at first light, tail fanned, beard bristling, and begins his clicking and popping display.

Photo tip

Only ever from an organised hide or licensed viewing, with a long lens (500 mm+) and very high ISO in the pre-dawn light. Do not go looking for a lek yourself.

Be a good naturalist

Leks must never be approached. Stay on paths, keep dogs on a lead and away from pine woods in April–July, and use only official viewing events (RSPB Abernethy, Cairngorms Capercaillie Project). Disturbing a lek can cost the whole breeding season, and disturbing a nest or dependent chicks is a criminal offence.

The law

Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: it is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest

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