Angry Bird #2

Meeting a capercaillie randomly displaying in the forest has become a more common sight. It can sometimes happen until later in spring or even summer when the mating season is already over. The tail-feathers are standing up into the air, the neck is stretched out vertically, and the big bird is making a call that seems at first very alien.

A “spillegal” capercaillie does not act like these birds usually do. If a capercaillie is this mad they do not shy away from a fight with humans or dogs, they simply attack whatever comes to close or seems like a challenge to their displaying ground.

Normally capercaillie are very shy fellows. Their display looks like the described above, but they do not show it to every audience. Real leking grounds have become rare these days and many people are reluctant to share them for obvious reasons.

But why do some of these males show this “maddish” behaviour and attack whatever they can find? The most common theory for this display is that the former leking grounds of these individuals have been destroyed. Capercaillie need the right surroundings and do mostly display in old-growth forests, a resource that is in steep decline do to logging by the timber industry. When these old ritual grounds are lost forever, some of the males wander the forests without having the ability to build down their hormonal levels in a natural manner on a leking site.

If we want to help our capercaillie population, we need to make sure, not only for their sake, that intact old-growth forests are preserved and protected from further commercial impact.