HUNTING HORIZONS - Worldwide Hunting Seasons Database

Capercaillie [Tetrao urogallus], the largest member of the grouse family, are found and breed across northern Europe, western and central Asia, it is renowned for its mating display.
LENGTH: Male 74-115 cm Female 54-64 cm
WEIGHT: Male 3.3 to 6.7 kg Female 1.5-2.5 kg
WINGSPAN: Male 1.2 m Female 70 cm
MALE: Feathers dark grey to dark brown, breast feathers metallic dark green with belly and undertail coverts varying from black to white.
FEMALE: Feathers on upper parts brown with black and silver barring, underside more light and buffish-yellow.
Both sexes have a bright red spot of naked skin above each eye, white spot on the wing bow with feathered legs for protection. Their toe rows of small, elongated horn tacks make a clear track in the snow.
HABITAT: Western Capercaillie live in mature coniferous forests of spruce and pine with horizontal branches for sleeping under a light canopy. They find cover in young tree growth or dense vegetation, and use the open spaces when flying; being very habitat specific they hardly use any other forest types.
FEEDING: Highly specialized herbivores, feeding almost exclusively on blueberry leaves and berries, some grass seeds and fresh shoots of sedges in summertime. During winter they spend almost day and night on trees, feeding on coniferous needles and buds of beech and rowan. The young chicks are dependent on protein-rich food and thus mainly prey on insects.
CALL: Much of the call is thought to be out with the human hearing range; during lekking the male's call sounds like a series of 'clicks' and 'pops' and can carry for several kilometres.
FLIGHT: Very agile, flying easily within woodlands and amongst the canopy, taking off they produce a sudden thundering noise. They avoid young and dense forests when flying resting in short gliding phases; their feathers produce a whistling sound.