698 Featured Specimen

Black grouse

Lyrurus tetrix

A lekking grouse whose males show glossy black plumage, white wing bars, and a lyre-shaped tail.

Range

Habitat range map

Native range Occasional / Transient

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

Uses woodland edges, scrub, bogs, grassland, and open mountain slopes where display grounds and cover occur together.

Males are glossy black with red eye combs and white undertail coverts. Females are brown and barred for camouflage.

Males gather at leks, calling and fanning tails in competition. Winter groups may feed in trees.

Buds, young leaves, berries, seeds, and insects are eaten, with chicks needing many insects early on.

Females nest on the ground and incubate and rear chicks alone. Chicks can walk soon after hatching.

Declines occur in parts of Europe where grassland and woodland structure change, though the global range remains large.