Black grouse

Scientific name: Lyrurus tetrix

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Males are strikingly black with a blue-green iridescent sheen, white underwing coverts, and a distinctive lyre-shaped tail. Females are smaller, cryptically mottled brown and grey with a forked tail; easily confused with Red grouse hens but darker and larger.

Size and weight

Males 48–55 cm, 0.9–1.2 kg; females 40–46 cm, 0.7–0.9 kg.

Habitat

Black grouse inhabit moorlands, heathland, and open woodland margins with scattered trees and dense ground cover. They favour birch and willow scrub mixed with heather, typically between 300–800 m altitude in upland regions.

Distribution

Resident across northern and upland Britain, Scandinavia, and Russia south to the Alps and Carpathians. Prefer open moorland and woodland edge habitats with regenerating heather.

Diet

Feeds on heather shoots, bilberry, crowberry, and birch catkins; chicks take insects and plant material; diet shifts seasonally toward buds and shoots in winter.

Behaviour

Diurnal and crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk. Males are territorial; birds roost on open ground or shallow scrapes. Flocks form in winter; fast, low flight with whirring wingbeats over short distances.

Hunting tips

Look for black droppings (1–1.5 cm, dark pellets) on heather and tracks in soft ground. Birds flush explosive and fast, typically hugging terrain; approach into wind through thick cover using ground contours. Early morning and evening produce most sightings; scan skylines and open patches where birds feed.

Whole weight

This species is logged by whole weight — the animal weighed entire, as taken.

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 11 countries in Huntify.

Names in other languages

These field notes are general species knowledge, not legal advice. Always check the current seasons, quotas and firearm rules where you hunt.