Nature Champions: Capercaillie

The Capercaillie is the world’s biggest grouse and, within the UK, lives only in Scotland. It is famous for its ‘lekking’ behaviour, where groups of males display to females in spring, and are found in Caledonian pine forest – itself a rare and vulnerable habitat. It was extinct by the early 19thC, successfully reintroduced in the 1830s, but is now again at risk of Scottish extinction. The overall decline may have slowed but the Capercaillie has more recently abandoned large areas of its range, with most birds now found in Strathspey. Research suggests the cause to be low breeding productivity from a combination of cold, wet weather during the breeding season, deteriorating and fragmenting habitat, predation and human disturbance.