Wildlife
Black grouse are distinctive looking gamebirds of northern Europe's woodland and moorland. Like their close relatives, capercaillies, male black grouse put on an impressive display in the breeding season. At dawn, the males gather to inflate their necks, raise their tails and make a bubbling 'rookooing' sound. At stake is the chance to mate with more of the watching females than any of the other males. Black grouse are also known as blackcocks and greyhens, because of the colour of the male and female birds respectively.
Did you know?
Young black grouse eat spiders and insects; adult birds are primarily vegetarian.
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Dance for the ladies
Posturing black grouse attempt to win over the ladies.
An increasingly rare sight, black grouse gather on the lek, a communal courtship ground, in spring. The males posture and dance with each other in an attempt to attract a mate.
Autumn grouse lek
Male black grouse strut their stuff to work out who's boss.
Male black grouse strut their stuff to work out who's boss.
Lekking at dawn
Iolo Williams gets up at dawn to watch a remarkable black grouse lek near Llangollen, in North Wales.
Iolo Williams gets up at dawn to watch a black grouse lek on a barren moorland in North Wales.
Fighting dance
Male black grouse scuffle over their display grounds.
Male black grouse scuffle over their display grounds.
Centre court champ
Female grouses prefer to be at the centre of attention for mating.
Female grouses prefer to be at the centre of attention for mating.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Black grouse can be found in a number of locations including: Asia, Europe, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Black grouse distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Year assessed: 2009
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The Black Grouse or Blackgame (Tetrao tetrix) is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, breeding across northern Eurasia in moorland and bog areas near to woodland, mostly boreal. The Black Grouse is closely related to the Caucasian Grouse.
The female is greyish-brown and has a cackling call. She takes all responsibility for nesting and caring for the chicks, as is typical with gamebirds.
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Moorland
Broadleaf forest
Coniferous forest
Temperate grassland
Courtship display
Adapted to flying
Acoustic communication
Egg layer
Sexual dimorphism
Visual communication