Genetic Scorecard Indicator - Western capercaillie
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Date published
2025
Abstract
The capercaillie is a symbol of Scotland’s pine forests and was an historically important gamebird. Itis the largest grouse species globally. It is closely associated with mature pine forests, relying on a mosaic of habitats; understorey for nesting and blaeberry for food, clearings for leks and mature trees for roosting, it also relies heavily on pine needles for food in winter. It is a lek species with a skewed mating system and sex ratio. Capercaillie breed annually in spring (April to May), with females being able to breed at 1 year of age and males at 3 years. Lek sites are generally stationary, being used across generations. Currently they are only present in Scotland within the UK, with about 80% of the population found in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of the Cairngorms National Park. There are small populations in Deeside, Nairnshire and Easter Ross. Previous extinctions in the UK are thought to have occurred in the 1790s. Reintroduction attempts occurred in the 1830s using birds from Scandinavia. The Ppopulation grew to an estimated 20,000 birds in the 1970s, but has declined dramatically since then to the most recent national survey estimating 532 (95%CI:227–810) adult birds in 2022 (Wilkinson et al., 2024). The range has also contracted during this decline with populations being loss from the Trossachs and Perthshire. Scotland is at the western edge of the range, and across Europe there is thought to be a population size of 1,590,000-3,420,000 individuals, which make up about 40% of the global population. Fennoscandia and Russian population are thought to be large and continuous but most other mainland European populations are small and fragmented. Is known to hybridise with black grouse (Lyrulus tetrix) in some countries.
Journal title
NatureScot Genetic Scorecard Indicator
Publisher
NatureScot
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
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