CAPERCAILLIE Tetrao urogallus

The name capercaillie is derived from two gaelic words, “capull collie” meaning “horse of the forest”, It is the rarest of the grouse family in Scotland. The capercaillie became extinct here in the middle of the 18th century and was reintroduced in the middle of the 19th century. Since then, numbers have declined throughout its range in Northern Europe.

This species of bird is common in large coniferous woods, sometimes seen at the edges and in clearings. The enormous size (34 inches), the black plumage and rather long, fan shaped tail makes the male unmistakeable. The hen is less charismatic with pale apricot colouring and a long rounded tail. In flight, the male is easily recognised, even at some distance, by his light underside. When frightened, they burst out of cover very noisily.

The diet of these large birds includes buds, shoots, berries and some insects. When the male displays to the female, he stands with his tail cocked and fanned and his bill held high while calling. The females choose which male they want as a mate. In spring listen for the “clip clop" noise the huge male makes and the variety of calls that sound like anything from a popping cork to pouring liquid from a bottle. He does not join in with any domestic duties and the female incubates the eggs alone in a mossy nest placed usually at the base of a tree.

In our Forest Habitat here at the Park, we have three enclosures in total. The front two each contain one male bird. As the females are smaller, they can move between the enclosures via holes cut in the dividing wall. In this way, they can "choose" the male, as they would in the wild. The third enclosure, away from the public eye, is where the hens can have the privacy to build their nests. We also have a breeding unit off show at the Park, where we can hold up to twelve birds. Our aim is to work in conjunction with other breeders and build up a good stock of captive bred birds.

This bird is once again threatened with extinction in Scotland, with total numbers dwindling to around one thousand. The law has now been altered to make it an offence to disturb a capercaillie while it is lekking, and controls are also in place to limit the number of predators, particularly foxes, in forests where there are known capercaillie populations.