Western capercaillie

Tetrao urogallus

A large forest grouse of Europe and Siberia; males are heavy birds with fan-shaped tails and dramatic spring displays.

Key facts

Western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is a herbivore animal classified as Bird · Galliformes · Phasianidae.
Primary habitats are forest · mountains, with a range across Palearctic.
Activity is diurnal, sociality is solitary, and conservation status is LC (Least Concern).
A large forest grouse of Europe and Siberia; males are heavy birds with fan-shaped tails and dramatic spring displays.
Lives in conifer, mixed, and mountain forests with damp floors, old trees, and berry-rich undergrowth.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Lives in conifer, mixed, and mountain forests with damp floors, old trees, and berry-rich undergrowth.

Males are dark with a greenish breast sheen, red bare skin above the eye, and a large tail. Females are smaller and mottled brown.

Males display at traditional leks, fanning the tail and giving low notes and clicks. It is ground-based but roosts in trees.

Conifer needles, buds, berries, herbs, and insects are eaten, with pine and fir needles important in winter.

Females lay in shallow ground nests and incubate alone. Chicks grow on many insects early in life.

Globally low-risk, but fragmented forests and disturbance have weakened some central European populations.