Black Grouse

Lyrurus tetrix

The black grouse, also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large bird in the grouse tribe. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and steppe habitat when breeding, often near wooded areas. They will spend the winter perched in dense forests, feeding almost exclusively on the needles of conifers. The black grouse is one of two species of grouse in the genus Lyrurus, the other being the lesser-known Caucasian grouse. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 1,908 times across 16 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 8°C (typically 8 to 11°C, from 5 areas). That holds across 15° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.