Species Guide: Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix)
Family: Phasianidae
The Black Grouse (scientific name Lyrurus tetrix, historically Tetrao tetrix) is a large, stocky game bird of the grouse family. It is found across the Palearctic: from Great Britain and western Europe across Scandinavia, much of Russia, and parts of Central and East Asia. The species is best known for the males’ dramatic spring displays (leks), striking black-and-white plumage, and red eye-combs. Though not currently listed as Critically Endangered globally, many local populations have declined, especially in western and central Europe and parts of the UK. These populations are now the focus of active conservation measures.
Appearance
Male black grouse (often called “blackcock”) are unmistakable. They have mostly glossy black plumage with a bluish sheen on the neck and chest. Bold white wing-bars are visible in flight. Their large lyre-shaped tail is fanned during display. Each male sports a prominent red wattle (comb) above each eye. In flight, the white under-tail coverts and wing patches make males highly conspicuous during display flights.
Females (“greyhens”) are much duller, in brown and barred plumage, which helps conceal their nests.
Diet
Black grouse are primarily herbivorous. Diet varies seasonally:
- Autumn & winter: they move into denser coniferous woodlands and feed heavily on conifer needles and buds (especially in harsher seasons). Their ability to digest needles enables them to overwinter in forested areas where other food is scarce.
- Spring & summer: buds, leaves, shoots, berries, seeds, and a range of herbaceous plants; chicks take insects (an important protein source).
Habitat
Black grouse require a mosaic of habitats. These include open moorland, heaths, young forestry and scrub, and scattered trees or forest margins. They breed on upland moors and forest edges. In winter, they often roost in dense conifer stands. This need for both open feeding and lekking areas, plus wooded cover, makes them vulnerable to land-use changes that remove either habitat component. Local declines are strongly linked to habitat loss, fragmentation, and changes in grazing or forestry practices.
Behavior
Lekking and display: Black grouse are famous for lekking behavior. In spring, males gather at traditional lek sites (clearings or ridge tops) at dawn to display: they erect and fan their tails, droop wings showing white flight feathers, stamp and produce bubbling/rattling calls while jostling rivals. Females observe and choose mates based on these displays.
Calls: Male calls during display are described as bubbling, popping, or rattling; females give a cackling or warbling call. Sound recordings and careful listening at dawn during lekking season are typical ways to detect them.
Nesting: Females make a shallow, concealed ground scrape lined with moss and grass, usually in dense vegetation.
Clutch: Typically 6–11 eggs laid in May.
Breeding & life cycle: Chicks: precocial; they feed themselves soon after hatching, but chicks rely on maternal guidance and protection for several weeks; juveniles reach independence after a few months.
Biometrics
| Body Length | 40-60 cm |
| Wingspan | 65-80 cm |
| Body Weight | 0.9-1.3 kg |
| Longevity | 5-10 Years |
Natural Predators
Black grouse face predation pressure at multiple life stages:
- Eggs and chicks: corvids (crows, magpies), foxes, pine martens, and other mesocarnivores.
- Adults: red foxes, pine martens, raptors such as golden eagle and goshawk may take adults where the habitat is open enough for hunting.
Predator abundance and complex predator-prey interactions (including mesopredator release or suppression by top predators) can strongly influence local breeding success.
Relationship to Humans (including fables)
Traditional use & hunting: Historically, Black Grouse were game birds hunted for sport and food; they have cultural importance in many rural communities. Hunting pressure combined with habitat change has contributed to local declines in some areas.
Cultural presence & fables: The black grouse appears in rural folklore and local stories across Europe. Males’ striking display and behavior have inspired tales about courtship, pride, and rivalry. In some upland regions, the bird is woven into place-names, hunting traditions, and has been used as a seasonal indicator in folk calendars. Local fables vary regionally; many emphasize the cock’s proud display and the hen’s secretive nesting.
Conservation Status
Global status: The species is currently assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List at a global scale because of its very large overall range and substantial total population, but that masks substantial regional variation.
Regional trends and concern: Despite the global assessment, many western and central European populations (and some parts of the UK and central Europe) have experienced significant declines over recent decades due to habitat loss, fragmentation, changes in agricultural or forestry practices, increased predation in fragmented landscapes, and human disturbance. Some national red lists and bird-conservation organizations, therefore, list the black grouse as a species of conservation concern locally and run recovery programs and habitat management schemes. For example, UK breeding numbers are limited and monitoring shows contraction in distribution; conservation groups (RSPB, BTO, Scottish Wildlife Trust, local NGOs) manage habitat, restore mixed mosaics of moorland and young woodland, and protect lek sites. Recent regional scientific reviews and population assessments emphasize ongoing declines in places and call for targeted habitat management and monitoring.
Conservation actions: Effective measures include restoring and managing a mosaic of open and wooded habitats, protecting traditional lek sites from disturbance, careful forestry planning to maintain edge habitats, predator-management where appropriate and supported by evidence, and locally tailored programs to reconnect fragmented populations. Conservation success has been recorded in some managed areas, showing that targeted efforts can stabilize or increase local numbers.
U.K.
Conservation Status
Global
Conservation Status
Ad Space
Related Articles
References
- Golley, M. (2016) Field guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland. London, England: Bloomsbury. [Accessed 08/10/2025]
- Lovette, I. et al. (2016) The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, handbook of bird biology. Third edition. Chichester: Wiley. [Accessed 08/10/2025]
CITATIONS
- By The author of the work and the IUCN Red List spatial data, CC BY-SA 4.0, [Accessed 08/10/2025] ↩︎
