Where does the capercaillie live. Alexander stepanovich yakovlev "capercaillie. Characteristic features of the capercaillie

(lat. Tetrao urogallus) - large bird from the pheasant family, the order of galliformes. The name "capercaillie" is due to the well-known feature of the male current during the mating season, to lose sensitivity and vigilance, which is often used by hunters.

The capercaillie is a representative of the largest forest feathered game. It belongs to the order of chickens, the suborder of chickens proper, the grouse family, and the capercaillie genus. The species of the common capercaillie is divided into three subspecies, the white-bellied capercaillie, which lives in the central and eastern regions of Russia; taiga dark capercaillie, living in the northern and eastern regions of the country; a black-bellied Western European capercaillie that lives in the forests of the western regions of the country. In summer, capercaillie molt is observed, during which the birds clog in especially strong forest places.

Capercaillie habitat

The capercaillie bird lives in the forests of the European part of the country and Western Siberia. Throughout the forest zone, from the Baltic to the Yenisei, this large bird is well known to hunters. Eastern Siberia, Far East, Kamchatka and Sakhalin is inhabited by a stone capercaillie, somewhat inferior to the ordinary one in weight. The stone capercaillie has a peculiarity - it does not "deaf" during the spring mating singing.

Capercaillie lives only where pine and cedar grow. For about six months, he feeds on the needles of these trees. During the snowless period, birds are found in a wide variety of forest lands. In summer, capercaillie, especially males, tend to lower damp places. At this time, they can most often be found near streams and rivers, along hummocky swamps.

Movements of capercaillie in certain places of its natural range are expressed to varying degrees. In the subzones of the middle and southern taiga, capercaillie make minor flights. On the contrary, in the zone of broad-leaved forests in the southern Urals and in the Altai mountains, capercaillie are more mobile and make long-distance migrations. The most noticeable migrations of capercaillie are in the subzone of the northern taiga and forest-tundra, where birds sometimes form large flocks when moving.

Wood grouses have an interesting and practically valuable feature - they are transported to a new place, they do not fly back and remain to live in the places of release. In other words, they have no desire to return to their native lands. This determines the success of the release of capercaillie in places where they used to be and for some reason disappeared. Naturally, the forest lands in the places of release should be suitable for bird life. In this case, they can be settled even where they have not met before. In our country, capercaillie has been successfully settled in Northern Kazakhstan.

Capercaillie rarely makes long-distance migrations. Minor flights are caused by the search for pebbles and the seasonal change of food or, which happens less frequently, by looking for convenient places to sleep.

Experiments with the use of ringing over a number of years have established that, for example, in the Vyatka forests, the predominant part of the capercaillie population during the autumn occupies small areas of suitable forests. Of the 239 recaptures of capercaillie with rings, 63% were less than 1 km from the previous encounter and 22% were within 2 km. Only individual birds were found within 4 years at a distance of more than 5 km, and only one capercaillie was killed 20 km from the ringing site. The degree of mobility of males and females in these birds is approximately the same.

Insignificant movements are made by capercaillie in the spring, flocking to the currents. On the current, each capercaillie occupies its own individual plot and leks on it from year to year. The place where the capercaillie was killed was not occupied by other birds for a number of years. Only isolated cases of capercaillie flights from one lek to another within 3-5 km are known.

Nutrition in nature

The basis of nutrition in most of the range from mid-October to mid-May is pine needles (Pinus silvestris or P. sibirica). In the winter months, the diet consists exclusively of needles with a small admixture of young cones and terminal shoots. Pine needles are also consumed throughout the summer, but in very small quantities. In winter, along with pine needles, the diet includes a number of other minor components, among which juniper is most often used (twigs with needles and fruits). In cases where birds winter in forests devoid of pine, the basis of the winter diet can be both fir needles (Teplov, 1947; Dulkeit, 1964), and spruce needles (Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, 1959; Kuzmina, 1962; Ostrovsky, 1973 ). Much less often and mainly in the southern part of the range, the basis of winter food is catkins, buds and terminal shoots of deciduous trees - birch, oak, aspen, linden, alder, elm, willow (Menzbir, 1902; Kirikov, 1952; our data), and in in some cases, birch catkins account for up to 15% of the goiter content (Telepnev, 1972).

Spring, summer and autumn food is much more diverse and depends mainly on the vegetation of the area. Among the most important food items are blueberries, Vaccinium myrtillus (stems - in autumn and spring, berries - in summer and autumn), blueberries, V. uliginosum (leaves and berries - in summer and autumn), cotton grass, Eriophorum vaginatum (leaves and flowers - in spring and summer), sleep-grass, Pulsatilla patens (inflorescences - in spring). In spring, capercaillie primarily eat fresh greens, flowers and inflorescences of herbs, shrubs and trees. A characteristic component of the summer diet is the seeds of herbaceous plants (sedges, maryannik, viviparous buckwheat), leaves and stems of horsetails and ferns, as well as leaves of various willows, aspen, birch, and alder. In summer and early autumn, animals are also eaten: slugs, spiders, various insects, among which grasshoppers, ants and sawfly larvae are preferred, sometimes even lizards. In general, the share of animal feed in the diet of capercaillie is small and does not exceed 10% in July - August. Moulting birds are especially willing to consume animal food. In autumn, berries become the main food. In addition to them, larch needles, aspen leaves, pine nuts and acorns, and in some places also cereals, are of great importance in a number of regions. The storage of pebbles in autumn is very important for capercaillie, and the need for the latter can even be the cause of massive movements of birds, especially in lowland areas that are poor in outcrops. The maximum amount of pebbles in the stomach of a male is 71 g, and that of a female is 27 g. The most intensive picking of pebbles begins in the second half of September, especially after the first winter food, and continues until the snow cover is established. At dawn, birds fly out in search of pebbles on the banks of rivers and streams, on dirt roads and quarries, on cliffs of terraces and various kinds of soil outcrops. During the winter, the number of gastroliths in the stomachs gradually decreases.

In the diet of chicks in the first two weeks of life, various insects and spiders predominate. Of plant foods, blueberry flowers are the first to be eaten (in the first week of life), and starting from the second week, the share of plant food increases every day. In August, the diet of young birds is not much different from adults, mostly with a slightly larger amount of insects and greenery.

Appearance

The weight of adult males of the common capercaillie is on average 4 kg, females - 2 kg. Young capercaillie in the first autumn of their life reach a weight of no more than 3.3 kg, in the second autumn - 3.9 kg, and only at the age of over 3 years their weight exceeds 4 kg. Young male capercaillie are easy to distinguish from adults both by weight and by external signs - a short and variegated tail, a thin and weak beak.

The head and neck of the male are blackish, the back of the neck is ash-gray with black spots, the front is black with gray. The back is blackish with brown and gray spots. The goiter is black with a green metallic sheen, the chest is a greenish-steel color, the underside is covered with black and white spots. Wings are brown. The tail is black with white spots. The bare skin near the eye is bright red, the beak is white-pink. The female is smaller and colored very variegated with a mixture of rusty-yellow, rusty-red, black-brown and white (in the form of transverse dark and rusty-ocher stripes). The throat, wing fold and upper chest are rusty red.

Young female capercaillie reach the size and weight of adults in the very first autumn, but they also retain a well-marked distinguishing feature: the tips of the first and second flight feathers on their wings have a pointed shape and characteristic speckles that disappear only after molting next year.

reproduction

With the first glimpses of spring, capercaillie begin to change their winter habits. They more and more often descend on the snow, it would seem, for no reason, they walk among the trees. At the same time, the male no-no, and even draw his wings on the snow, leaving traces on it, or "nabrods". These are the first harbingers of the approaching time of mating games. In the northern parts of the range, "nabrods" appear around mid-March, in the southern parts - in the second half of February. The closer to spring, the more "nabrods" there are. From the appearance of the first "nabrods" to the beginning of the currents, it usually takes 3-4 weeks. The mating begins even when there is a continuous snow cover in the forest. With the appearance of thawed patches on the current, females begin to fly out and the intensity of the current increases sharply. It reaches its peak by the time when the snow in the forest has almost completely disappeared. Places of current, or currents, are constant from year to year. Some of them have been known for many decades. The place where capercaillie lekking can be recognized by the presence of one or several small (3-4 m2) areas trampled down by birds and snow completely streaked with wings. Later, when capercaillie begin to spend the night on the current and sing, the birds themselves can be found on the trees located around these places. Males often flock to the lekking place in the evening, but the lekking begins an hour or two before sunrise.

First, they lek in the trees, descending lower and lower, and then fly to the ground. There, on the ground, there are fierce fights between males that arise with the appearance of females on the current. Lekking on a tree, the male raises and lowers his tail, lowers his neck, raises and even throws his head and slowly moves along the branch from the trunk to its end and back. The pose of a flowing bird on the ground is the same. Strongly lowered wings draw on the snow or on the ground. The capercaillie's song consists of two parts: the so-called clicking and squealing. The click is reminiscent of the strokes of a nail on an incomplete matchbox. It repeats at certain intervals, gradually becoming more frequent and ending with a loud bang. This is followed by a skir-kanye, reminiscent of the chirping of a magpie, partly the creaking of snow in frost. Clicking can last for several minutes, swiping - only two or three seconds. The sounds of the song are heard not far away: the first part is at a distance of 100-125 m, the second - at a distance of about 200 m. During the skidding, the extremely sensitive capercaillie usually does not hear not only a strong noise, but even an unsuccessful shot fired at it (hence its name) .

Previously, it was believed that the capercaillie ceases to hear on the current from strong nervous excitement. In fact, the reason for his temporary deafness is different. It turns out that in his ear canal there is a special lobe, or fold, abundantly supplied with blood vessels. During the display, in particular at the moment of skirring, this blade fills with blood and swells so much that when the capercaillie, opening its mouth while singing, presses it with one of the bones of the skull, it completely closes the ear canal. This moment is used by hunters, approaching the current capercaillie. The number of roosters flocking to the lek in different geographical areas is different, from a few birds to hundreds. The latter is observed where this bird has survived in significant numbers. Glukharki begin visiting leks much later than males and leave them earlier than males. The duration of their participation in leks is about two times shorter than the duration of lekking of males. Females stop visiting the lek after they have finished laying and begin to incubate their eggs, which occurs around mid-May. At the end of May - beginning of June, males also finish displaying.

Capercaillie is a polygamous bird, it does not form pairs. Having fulfilled their mating duty, the males climb into the most remote parts of the forest, where they begin to molt. Caring for the offspring falls entirely on the female. Even during the period of currents, the female selects a suitable, sufficiently high and dry place somewhere near the current, usually no further than ½ -1 km. Here she makes her simple nest - a small depression in the soil, lined with rare blades of grass, leaves, sometimes single feathers. It is well protected from rain by a bunch of deadwood, branches and trunks of trees, roots of fallen pines and spruces, and is well camouflaged. The Glukharka lays eggs every other day, although there are indications that she does this daily. A full clutch contains from 5 to 16 eggs, painted yellowish-white, with brown streaks. They are similar in size to chickens. The capercaillie incubates for 24 days, adhering to a strict schedule: it leaves the nest three times a day - in the early morning, afternoon and evening.

By the end of incubation, her attachment to the nest increases and, in case of danger, she is not particularly in a hurry to leave it. Hatched chicks, barely dry, can freely follow their mother. The first days they are afraid of cold and moisture and therefore often warm themselves under their mother. In case of danger, they skillfully hide and at 2-3 days of age they cannot be found with a dog, since they leave a smell. When meeting with a man, the capercaillie tries to take him away from the brood.

Chicks grow quite quickly and at the age of ten they can fly, and at the age of one month they can fly well. Around this time, the downy outfit is completely replaced by a feather one. Young females reach the size of adults at the beginning of the fourth month of life, while the growth of males ends no earlier than the end of summer of the second year of life. The mortality of chicks in capercaillie is quite significant and, according to data for the northern parts of the range, is approximately 40 - 50%. If we compare the number of young capercaillie surviving by autumn with the number of eggs laid in spring, then the waste reaches 80%. The death of eggs and chicks occurs mainly due to late spring frosts, as well as from various predators - foxes, goshawks, golden eagles, eagle owls, etc. Especially many chicks die from them in early age. Grown up young in late summer - early autumn fight off the uterus, and males a little earlier than females.

In the southern parts of the range, this is observed approximately in the second half of August, in the northern parts - in the first half of September. The breakdown of broods coincides with the beginning of feeding on trees. At this time, capercaillie unite in flocks, consisting, as a rule, of birds of the same sex. These flocks remain without significant changes until the beginning of spring currents. At the end of summer (August), in some southern parts of the range, capercaillie show summer display. It was noted only for young males of last year's output, in which at that time the testes were enlarged. The towing takes place exclusively on trees. Glukharki at summer currents appear extremely rarely, fights between males are not observed at all. The mating singing of capercaillie can often be heard also in autumn, and occasionally in winter. But, unlike summer mating, it does not take place on special leks, but on feeding grounds, where males stay in a common flock with females. This singing is not confined to a certain time of day, it happens both in the morning and in the afternoon.

The winter life of capercaillie is rather monotonous. They spend most of the short winter day feeding in their trees. Feeding places are fairly constant and limited to a small area. Where there is a deep snow cover, capercaillie spend the night in the snow, diving into it from a tree. In the northern parts of the range, in cold weather they burrow into the snow during the day, and in severe frosts or in a snowstorm they sit out in it even for several days. Molting in males and females proceeds differently. In females, who are responsible for raising young, the change of feather occurs gradually and it falls during the breeding season. Males begin to molt shortly after the end of the currents, they molt very rapidly. Approximately in the middle of July, the plumage of their neck, back, wings, and tail is intensively replaced. There comes a moment when the cock completely loses the ability to fly in case of danger, hides by flight. It is with this that the males clog into the thicket and other well-hidden places during the molt.

population

The number of capercaillie birds in the lands depends on many reasons. The anxiety of birds by mushroom pickers, berry pickers and turpentine pickers during the breeding and rearing of young animals leads to the fact that broods of capercaillie feed poorly and die. Nests are often ruined when grazing livestock. In winters with little snow at low temperatures, capercaillie, not being able to hide from frost in the snow, die and their number drops sharply.

The population of capercaillie is adversely affected by clear-cutting of forests in the lands necessary for the habitat of birds, especially the current areas.

Showing capercaillie

The spring display of capercaillie begins in April, sometimes earlier. The height of the display falls on the end of April - the beginning of May, the end - approximately in the middle of May. The capercaillie currents are usually constant, but there are also such springs when there are no birds on the currents or very few of them flow. In capercaillie lekking is also observed in addition to currents, in places of feeding. Sometimes the current moves from place to place if birds are knocked out in certain areas.

Gluharki begin to visit the current a little later than the roosters. At the height of the current, they are very active, flying along the current with a loud cluck. Unlike females, roosters do not lek in windy rainy weather or lek for a short time and very sluggishly. As a result, hunters sometimes draw the not always correct conclusion that the current has already been broken.

In May, capercaillie, having laid 7-8 eggs, start incubation, which lasts about 26 days. Glukharka arranges a nest most often on the edge of a clearing or a forest clearing, in places where thawed patches appear faster. Usually the nest is located near a pile of brushwood, near stumps, in deadwood. At first, chicks feed exclusively on animal food: various bugs, caterpillars, butterflies and other insects. A young capercaillie pecks only food that moves, therefore, on cold days, when the mobility of insects drops sharply, capercaillie starve, grow poorly, and sometimes die.

Weather conditions in the second half of June and early July largely determine the survival rate of young animals. It happens that only half of the chicks survive until autumn, or even less.

Capercaillie grow quickly, daily gaining 35-40 g in weight. During the ripening period of berries, they gain almost the maximum weight for chicks in the first autumn. Usually in August, young cockerels are already heavier than adult capercaillie. In September, they fully dress in adult plumage, and only some young birds retain a chick feather on their heads.

During the period of rearing offspring by females, males, having climbed into impassable supports, molt. It takes them all summer to change plumage.

Capercaillie are objects of sports and places of commercial hunting. In pre-revolutionary Russia (until 1917), this bird was annually brought from the northern provinces to the capital's markets in very significant quantities and consumed in even greater numbers at the place of its production. In the spring, only male capercaillie were hunted, during the mating season, starting from the end of March and lasting until the first days of May. At the same time, the hunt was based on the fact that the current bird, during the skirkanya (the second part of the capercaillie song, the first is called clicking), throwing its head back, rolling its eyes, puffing out feathers, turning its tail and half-lowering its wings, loses its usual visual acuity and sensitivity.

Taking advantage of this circumstance, the hunters, having listened to the singing capercaillie from afar, during its wiping, lasting 3-4 seconds, made several large jumps towards it. Then they remained motionless until the next skidding, during which they jumped again, and so they continued until they approached the tree on which the capercaillie lekking at a distance of 30-50 steps, depending on the terrain. At the same time, they aimed at the capercaillie and pulled the trigger necessarily during the new skirkan, since it often happened that after a miss, the capercaillie, not hearing the shot, did not fly off the tree, and then it was possible to shoot a second time.

In the summer, in July, they hunted capercaillie broods, looking for them in forest berry fields (on blueberries, blueberries, etc.) with a pointing dog. In the autumn, capercaillie shooting was carried out from huts and dugouts on oat stubble and winter fields, where capercaillie flocked to feed, as well as from the approach in aspen and larch forests, where they were attracted by the taste of a wilted aspen leaf or a larch needle beaten by frost. In winter, no hunting for capercaillie with a gun was carried out, and they were mined, as well as in autumn, with special traps - traps, snares, slops, davushki, pruzhki, ochipki and others. Old capercaillie were shot with shot No. 2-000, while young ones were shot with smaller shot (No. 4-7). Based on the rules approved by the tsarist government on February 3, 1892, hunting for female capercaillie was prohibited from March 1 to July 15, and for males from May 15 to July 15. Catching them by any means was forbidden throughout the year.

Capercaillie are representatives of the pheasant family, a subfamily of grouse. The bird owes its name to the fact that the male during the mating season loses vigilance and sensitivity, which helps hunters to catch the bird.

Spring capercaillie lekking in a pine forest.

Geography of residence

Nowadays, capercaillie can be found only in coniferous and mixed forests of Europe and North Asia, and their largest population is in Siberia. Previously, capercaillie could be found on other continents, now their population is completely absent there.

Capercaillie on the current beat with their chest.

Capercaillie in the second half of summer.

Capercaillie in autumn.

Capercaillie in winter.

Appearance

A photo of capercaillie shows all the majesty and beauty of the bird. The size of males is about more than 1 meter, and the weight varies from 4 to 6.5 kg, the female capercaillie is significantly smaller, no more than 80 cm long, and weighs about 2 kg.

Sexual dimorphism of birds is expressed not only in size, the color of birds also varies significantly. The male plumage of the head is black, the necks are ashen and black-ash. There are no feathers around the eyes, and the skin is colored red, the beak is lighter - white-pink. The color of the back is black with gray and brown spots. The goiter is black with a gray-green sheen, the chest is green. The plumage of the wings is brown, the tail is black with white specks.

Capercaillie females are very colorful - feathers are red, yellow, black-brown and white. On the throat and fold of the wings, the feathers are rusty red.

Capercaillie in winter.

Stone capercaillie, outskirts of Yakutsk.

Current stone capercaillie. Neighborhood of Yakutsk.

Capercaillie lekking in a pine forest.

Nutrition and behavior

Capercaillie are omnivorous birds; in the spring and summer months, the basis of their diet is tree buds, small leaves of trees, blades of grass, berries, seeds, and various insects. Since October, larch needles become their main food, and in winter capercaillie feed on needles and buds.

A favorite pastime in life for these birds is displaying. They live at any time of the year, regardless of the mating season. Capercaillie fly extremely rarely, they move more on the ground, if suddenly a bird decides to take off, then it will not rise above the trees.

Current stone capercaillie. Neighborhood of Yakutsk.

Capercaillie female in winter.

The male capercaillie lekking.

Capercaillie flies between vetoe spruce.

The capercaillie took off.

Capercaillie in the winter on the snow.

Male capercaillie in flight, front view.

reproduction

Capercaillie do not create permanent pairs; several females can come to one male at once. mating season begins in March, the birds gather on currents - from year to year they are located in the same place. After the end of the mating season in April, the female begins the arrangement of the nest, for this she finds a suitable hole, which she lines with twigs and leaves.

The clutch usually contains 5 - 8 eggs, in rare cases there may be up to 16 pieces. The eggs are colored yellow-gray with dark spots. Small capercaillie are born in 3.5 - 4 weeks, only the female hatches them, only the mother is also responsible for the safety of the newborn.

The photo shows that newborns do not have enough fluff to keep warm, so their mother should take care of their warming. After the birth of the last chick, the female takes the babies to a safe place, for the first days they hide under her wings, but after a few days they can very cleverly disguise themselves in the grass.

Two-week-old chicks are able to fly over short distances, and on the 30th - 33rd day they are not inferior in flight to their parents. At the end of summer, grown up male chicks leave their mother, and females can still stay with her for a short time.

The female capercaillie "pouted" on a log.

In nature, there are crossbreeds of capercaillie with black grouse, such birds are called "mezhnyak", such birds do not give offspring.
In winter, birds hide in snow "dens", getting out of them only for food, however, even in these dens they hear the approach of a predator or hunter.
Only 20% of capercaillie eggs remain intact due to raids of predators, only 50% of hatched chicks survive.
The life expectancy of capercaillie leaves about 12 years.
It is almost impossible to tame capercaillie, besides, they rarely breed in captivity.

Among the many fairy tales, it is especially fascinating to read the fairy tale "The Greedy Capercaillie (Altai Tale)", it feels the love and wisdom of our people. Everyday problems are an incredibly successful way, with the help of simple, ordinary examples, to convey to the reader the most valuable centuries-old experience. The protagonist always wins not by deceit and cunning, but by kindness, gentleness and love - this is the main quality of children's characters. Folk tradition cannot lose its relevance, due to the inviolability of such concepts as: friendship, compassion, courage, courage, love and sacrifice. Crowned with success is the desire to convey a deep moral assessment actions of the main character, prompting to rethink themselves. Rivers, trees, animals, birds - everything comes to life, filled with lively colors, helps the heroes of the work in gratitude for their kindness and affection. Thanks to the developed children's imagination, they quickly revive the colorful pictures of the world around them in their imagination and fill in the gaps with their visual images. The tale "The Greedy Capercaillie (Altai Tale)" is certainly useful to read online for free, it will bring up only good and useful qualities and concepts in your child.

In late autumn, birds flew to the edge of the forest.

It's time for them to warmer climes. They gathered for seven days, called to each other:

Is everyone here? Is everything here? Is everyone here?

It turns out that the capercaillie is missing. The golden eagle thumped with his hooked nose on a dry branch, thumped again and ordered the young grouse to call the capercaillie. Whistling its wings, a grouse flew into the thicket of the forest. He sees - a capercaillie sits on a cedar, shelling nuts from cones.

Dear caper! We all want to go to warmer climes. We have been waiting for you alone for seven days.

Well, well, do not talk in vain! It is not in a hurry to fly to warm land. How many nuts are left here! Should all this be abandoned?

Teterka returned to the edge of the forest.

Capercaillie, - she says, - eats nuts, is in no hurry to fly away.

Then the golden eagle sent a fast hawk. A hawk circled over a large cedar. And the capercaillie is still sitting, creaking with its beak, choosing nuts from cones.

Oh, capercaillie, the birds have been waiting for you for fourteen days, it's time to fly to warmer climes!

There is nothing, there is nothing to hurry, - the wood grouse croaked. - We'll make it. Before the road you need to eat.

The golden eagle got angry and flew ahead of all the birds to warm lands.

And the capercaillie picked nuts for another seven days. On the eighth he sighed, brushing his beak on his feathers:

“No, apparently, I don’t have enough strength to eat all this. We'll have to leave the squirrels."

And he flew to the edge of the forest.

What?

The needles of the cedars fell off. Branches with bare rods wave. These birds waited two weeks for the capercaillie, pecked all the needles. The feet of the trees are white, as if swept by snow, they stand. These are birds, waiting for the capercaillie, cleaning their feathers.

Wept bitterly, the capercaillie creaked:

Of all the birds, only I remained in the forest! How will I winter alone? The capercaillie's eyebrows reddened from tears. Since then, all his children, and grandchildren, and nephews, listening to this story, cry bitterly. And all the children of the capercaillie, and the grandchildren, and the nephews of the eyebrows, like mountain ash, are red.

Detachment - Galliformes

Family - Tether

Genus/Species - Tetrao urogallus

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Length: 60 cm, the male capercaillie (see photo) is larger than the female.

Wingspan: 87-135 cm.

Weight: up to 6.5 kg.

BREEDING

Puberty: male from 3 years old, female earlier.

Nesting period: April June.

Carrying: 1 per season.

Number of eggs: 7-9.

Incubation: 26-28 days.

The chicks are on the wing: at the age of 2-3 weeks.

LIFESTYLE

Habits: live in flocks in winter.

Food: plants, insects.

Sounds:"flowing" and "turning".

Lifespan: up to 10 years old.

RELATED SPECIES

The closest relative of the capercaillie is the field grouse.

Capercaillie is the largest representative of the black grouse family. Despite its large mass, this bird also feeds on trees. In snowy winters, capercaillie huddle into snow chambers for the night. In winter, birds feed on needles of pines or cedars.

BREEDING

Male and female capercaillie keep separate from each other all year round, meeting only during the mating season. At the beginning of the nesting period, males gather in groups on leks, where they compete with each other: they show off their fan-shaped and spread out tails, drag their wings along the ground and stretch their necks with ruffled feathers, while giving out clattering sounds.

Early in the morning wood grouses sing, sitting on separate trees. The capercaillie song is divided into two parts and consists of "flowing" and "turning". Ornithologists translate "flowing" as "te-ke ... te-ke ... te-ke ...". Capercaillie loses his hearing during the performance of the second part of the song, the so-called "turning". After sunrise, the capercaillie flies to the ground and disperses competitors. Females watch mating and fights of males, sitting on trees, and then mate with the winner.

All the worries about future chicks fall on the shoulders of the capercaillie. At the base of the tree trunk, the female digs a shallow hole, which she lines with needles, moss, grass or heather and lays seven to nine eggs in it. motley bird incubates clutch, well hidden from the eyes of predators. Newborn chicks are covered with brown down dotted with dark spots and stripes. After a few hours, they leave the nest, and at the age of 10 days they already know how to fly.

WHERE Dwells

Capercaillie live in the forests of Eurasia. They are found in the territory from the Scandinavian Peninsula to Siberia. In Central Europe, the number of this species is declining every year. Capercaillie's favorite places of settlement are old coniferous forests with large meadows of blueberries, the berries and leaves of which he eats all year round. This bird benefits from being close to an anthill, which provides the chicks with protein-rich food. Capercaillie is a very shy bird. In summer, it flies little, hiding in blueberry thickets and in the undergrowth. Capercaillie also builds its well-hidden nest on the ground.

In winter, the bird spends a lot of time on trees. In regions where there is a lot of snow, the wood grouse survives thanks to a thick subcutaneous layer of fat, which acts as an insulating material and energy storage. In winter, capercaillie gather in flocks of 5 to 25 birds. Males are often kept separate from females.

WHAT DOES IT FEED

In summer, capercaillie feed on the green parts of dwarf shrubs, insects and their larvae, as well as leaves, young shoots, blueberries, lingonberries and dropsy, sedge, marsh wild rosemary, moss and blackberry leaves. Capercaillie look for insects and larvae in the soil, raking it with their feet and beak. Birds also use their beaks to pluck leaves and buds from plants. In winter, capercaillie live in coniferous or mixed forests dominated by coniferous trees. In Central Europe, capercaillie have chosen thickets of juniper and pine forests. In the cold season, birds feed on needles and young cones. Female capercaillie chicks lead to anthills, since the nutritious larvae of these insects are optimally suited for the rapid development of the organisms of young birds. Later, the chicks begin to prey on other insects and spiders.

OBSERVATIONS

The legs of the male capercaillie are covered with feathers right up to the very toes. The color of the feathers of this bird from a distance seems to be gray-black, but close up you can distinguish a greenish tint of the chest and brown wings with white spots near the elbow joints.

The female wears a variegated plumage with dark dots and stripes. The short, rounded wings of the capercaillie are best suited for maneuvering between trees. Capercaillie leaves the forest only in exceptional cases. The bird can walk on the branches of trees.

DESCRIPTION

On cold winter nights, capercaillie burrow into the snow, and in severe frosts they sit in snow holes almost all day.

The capercaillie is a big bird. Males reach a size and weight of 4 kg. Females are somewhat smaller, about the size of a chicken. They live in forests of various types, but prefer conifers. Capercaillie feed on berries, seeds, young shoots, pine nuts. In early spring, during the breeding season, capercaillie gather for leks that take place in one place for decades. Males are so fond of singing that they stop hearing, go deaf, become in different poses, and sometimes fight. All care for offspring lies on the "shoulders" of females - they equip nests on the ground, lay 5-8 eggs, incubate them and raise babies. Capercaillie - valuable species game.

The capercaillie loses his hearing and sight for some time during the mating - and in this way he resembles a man in love. The similarity of the physiological state inherent in a certain period of life to both a capercaillie and a person is noted in the proverbs of many peoples. So, for example, in German folklore we find the following proverb: "Love makes a capercaillie blind, and a man a child."
It happens that capercaillie females sometimes mate with black grouse males - as a result, sterile hybrid individuals are born.
Chicks in the first days of life are in danger from predators and humans.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES

Male: the back is black with a blue tint, the chest with a green metallic sheen, a short beard under the beak. In flight, chestnut wings show white markings; the belly and tail are also marked with white spots. During mating, the male wears a fan-shaped tail.

Brows: during mating, red leathery outgrowths swell above the eyes of males.

Beak: strong, ivory, with a hooked curved end; serves to disrupt the kidneys.

Carrying: consists of about 7-9 sand or yellow-brown eggs with reddish spots.

Female: much smaller than the male. The plumage is brown with a black and white pattern, the chest is red, most of the belly is white. The female capercaillie is called black grouse or kopalukha.

Chicks: covered with khaki down. A few hours after birth, they leave the nest and are already able to get their own food, but the chicks are very sensitive to cold and dampness.

- Habitat of capercaillie

WHERE Dwells

Capercaillie inhabits coniferous and mixed forests of Eurasia from the Scandinavian countries and Scotland to Lake Baikal, the French mountains of the Vosges and Jura, and is also found in the Pyrenees and the Alps.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

The number of the species is catastrophically reduced due to the development of the timber industry.

Current capercaillie. Video (00:00:41)

The song of the capercaillie is heard in the early spring morning even when approaching the zoo. The current capercaillie is a bewitching sight. Few people manage to see it in nature. But every spring the capercaillie brings joy to the employees and visitors of the Perm Zoo. The video was filmed by the zoologist of the bird department Starova Olga.

Capercaillie on the current. Video (00:00:33)

Wild capercaillie in Yailu. Video (00:01:58)

Capercaillie fed on the leaves of a domestic apple tree, sometimes descended to the ground for clover leaves. He drank water from dishes for domestic ducks and calmly walked next to them. Sometimes he flew to the northern outskirts of the village, but after a while he returned to the former courtyard

Capercaillie on the current. Video (00:01:05)

Capercaillie on the current. Capercaillie. Current. The song of the deer.

Capercaillie lekking on a tree. Video (00:01:33)

Capercaillie lekking on a tree

Capercaillie - godfather of the taiga. Video (00:04:41)

Capercaillie attacks a man
http://nemcd.com/2014/02/gluxar-paxan-tajgi/

This is a happy large bird from the pheasant family, the grouse subfamily. Males are very showy and have beautiful plumage.

Appearance

Males at sexually mature age reach 110 cm and have a half-meter wingspan. Body weight is slightly different in males and varies from 4 to 6 kg.

Capercaillie females are much smaller and weigh an average of only 2 kg.

The male has beautiful plumage. The color of the male is a black head and neck, the back of the head is painted in a lighter gray shade, but with small black spots. The back is dark in color with brown and gray spots. Around the eyes the skin is bare, without feather cover, red.

The female has the same shades, but much less colorfully combined.

habitats

The bird prefers mixed and coniferous forests; it is very rare to find it in deciduous forests. Often found in moss-covered swamps, where she likes to feast on various berries.

Therefore, in Russia this bird can be seen both in its European part and in Asia. Although their habitats have been reduced due to deforestation, they have not completely disappeared.

Also lives:

in Spain;
in the Alps;
in the Carpathians;
in Sweden.

Lifestyle and habits

Actually, capercaillie is a bird leading a settled way of life, not flying to other places. Rarely does it move to the mountains and back to the forests. It flies over short distances, flapping its wings heavily and noisily. During the day he walks on the ground, and at night he hides in the foliage on the trees. He has excellent hearing and eyesight, and therefore, if there is a need to catch him on a hunt, then this will be a difficult task.

Capercaillie in winter converge in small flocks and stay together. When the temperature drops sharply, then ordinary capercaillie fall like a stone into the snow, burrowing into it with their heads - this protects them from freezing.

Nutrition

What does a capercaillie eat in summer?

The common capercaillie feeds on various green shoots that it can reach, as well as:

flowers;
grass;
wild berries;
insects.

But this is in the summer, and what does the capercaillie eat in an unfavorable season? In autumn and winter, the capercaillie does not disdain coniferous twigs, where he eats pine and spruce buds with pleasure. The bird also loves rowan and juniper berries.

In order for rough food to be better absorbed by the body of the capercaillie, he swallows small pebbles to grind it.

reproduction

When spring comes, capercaillie lek in certain places that do not change from year to year. These places are called currents.

They can lek both on the ground and on tree branches, making specific sounds resembling crackling with their throats, and moving at the same time, as if dancing in one place. At the same time, the feathers of the male are strongly bristling. Tokuya, he loses his last vigilance.

This whole concert begins in the pre-dawn time and continues until the sun rises. After the appearance of the first sunlight, he flies up to the females and tramples them. Actually, with such an exciting song, he attracts females to himself. A person can hear the lekking for half a kilometer, and female capercaillie in infrasonic form hear for a kilometer.

Sometimes fights break out between two males, which end in the death of one of the birds.

After successful mating, the females dig a shallow hole on the ground and cover it with fluff and leaves, where they lay their eggs. Dirty yellow eggs in a clutch can be from 6 to 15 pieces.

Incubation lasts 28 days. Only the female is engaged in incubation and feeding of the chicks.

Enemies in nature

Since capercaillie on the current often go into mating songs with their heads, for predators it does not represent special work get this bird for your lunch.

Hunting

A person also goes hunting to shoot a capercaillie, which has tasty and nutritious meat. But sometimes such a hunt turns simply into passion, and then the bird dies not for the sake of food, but for the sake of showing off trophies.

Capercaillie hunting opens at the end of August and runs until the beginning of spring. There are many ways in which this bird can be hunted. And each hunter chooses for himself the option in which he will be more lucky.

Always informative to know Interesting Facts from the life of birds. First of all, many people wonder why the bird was called capercaillie?

The name is explained by the fact that while the male is showing off in front of the female, he stops hearing everything around, so he is carried away by his courtship. For him at this moment there is complete silence around, and he hears only his song dedicated to the female.

And hunters use this well, because at such a moment you can slowly approach the bird and put it in a bag with literally your bare hands. She will come to her senses already caught.

Capercaillie and black grouse are related birds, and sometimes female capercaillie mate with male grouse, then sterile mezhnyak chicks are obtained.

In order to distract the natural enemy from the chicks, the female capercaillie, pretending to be wounded, takes them away from the nest.

By the beginning of September, adult males leave the nest, and grown females live with their mother for some time.

Video

How capercaillie behave on the current, you can find out from our video.

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