Wood grouse (heather cock, cock-of-the-woods) – Tetrao urogalus


Name: Tetrao urogalus – wood grouse
Appearance: The male’s head is black, his neck and back are brown drawn in grey. His chest is metallic green. Above their eyes, the males have a “rosette” comprised of many skin fringes in red.  It is very noticeable during the mating season. The tail is black with white specks, that vary with each male. The beak is strong and slightly bent. The legs are strong, mostly covered with feathers to their toes. There are special growths on their toes, 5-7 mm long “tassels”, that are stunted remains of feathers. These tassels ease their walk in the snow and are lost during moulting in mid-May. The females are rusty-brown with light specks and spots. The chest is brown with additions of orange. The rosette above their eyes is je less developed and less noticeable, and the beak is smooth and smaller that the male’s.
Body length: 85-100 cm, of which the tail is about 35 cm
Wingspan: 110-140 cm
Body weight: 2.5-5kg (male) and 1 -2.4 kg (female)
Number of eggs laid: 6 -12

Wood grouse is a forest bird from the tetrao genus. It lives in high, dense coniferous or mixed forests, above 1 200 MSL. It is estimated that the overall European population of this species has between 760 000 and 1 000 000 of nesting couples (BirdLife International).

The males of the wood grouse live independently, and very rarely in smaller groups. The hen with the offspring lives in family flocks until the beginning of winter. They spend their days on the ground looking for food, and in the evening they fly up to the trees where they spend the night. They feed on tree buds, leaves or needles of conifers, wild berries, strawberries, blueberries, seeds, snails and insects. The rooster is satisfied with rougher food than hens and chickens. Their predators are: fox, martens, lynxes, hawks and eagles.

By the beginning of the mating season, which lasts from mid-April to mid-May, the males always gather on the same places called singing fields or battlefields. These are usually eastern, sunny mountain slopes, which are overgrown with young and old trees. “The love game” begins on the on the tree where the male spent the night. When it dawns, he moves on the trunk and starts to peck on it, at first quietly, and then harder and harder, until the main, strongest blow that reminds of removing a cork from a bottle. In this way he summons females. After that, the rooster extends his head, raises it up and ahead, ruffles feathers on his head and neck and announces himself with chirping voices, that follow one after another faster and faster, until the first stanza echoes and the grinding begins. The grinding is comprised of hissing sounds and is very similar to grinding of the scythe, which is how it got its name. While grinding, the grouse cannot hear and can see less, especially objects under himself because he raises his head then. He cannot hear while grinding due to the sound volume and a mechanism in his ear that closes the auditory canal. His vision Is reduced because his eye is covered with the eye lid, which blinks while grinding. The grouse’s song can be heard 150 to 200 m away. After that, the male begins his dance on the ground. With his wings lowered and tail expanded, he circles round his axis, and then round one or more hens, that support him with their cluck. After conquering a hen, soon after mating, he leaves her and courts another. Often, an uninvited male shows up on the battle field. That is when the battle between the makes for the singing field and hens begins. The opponents vault at one another, poke with their sharp beaks and spread their wins until the weaker admits his defeat by folding his wings and ruffled feathers and leaves the battlefield. The winner continues with his dance and courtship thereafter.

During the mating season, a male fertilizes 4 – 6 females. Mature hens lay 6-12 eggs, that they nest in a shallow depression in the ground. Brooding lasts for 26 – 28 days.

The wood grouse is also called the deaf grouse because, during the mating season, the male becomes temporarily deaf, he cannot hear the hunters, which makes him an easy catch. In some parts of the Dinarides, for a person who becomes very much in love not seeing or hearing anything around, it is said that ‒ they become as spoony as a wood grouse.

The wood grouse is a vulnerable species whose numbers are influenced by: difficult living conditions (climate and relieve), poaching, frequent fires, staying of the livestock and shepherds on their habitats and predation.

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