Hazel grouse

Scientific name: Tetrastes bonasia

How weight is recorded: Whole weight

Field notes

Appearance

Males display a distinctive black throat patch with white spotting, rufous-brown upperparts, and grey underparts; females are duller and lack the bold throat marking. Both sexes show a short crest and barred tail, with males noticeably more colourful.

Size and weight

Males 340–380 g, females 320–360 g; body length 35–38 cm.

Habitat

Hazel grouse inhabit mixed and coniferous forests with dense understory, particularly birch and alder scrub in boreal and temperate zones. They favour areas with good ground cover and avoid open terrain, typically found from lowlands to 2000 m elevation.

Distribution

Range spans northern Europe and Asia from Scandinavia through Russia to Japan. They occupy coniferous and mixed forests across their range, avoiding both open ground and dense, old-growth forest without understory.

Diet

Hazel grouse eat birch and alder catkins in winter, switching to insects, berries, and green vegetation during spring and summer months.

Behaviour

Solitary or in pairs year-round; primarily crepuscular, feeding at dawn and dusk. They are reluctant fliers, preferring to run or crouch when disturbed, and remain in local territories.

Hunting tips

Look for droppings (dark, elongated pellets) and scratched leaf litter under dense cover. Approach quietly through thick vegetation at dawn or dusk, using wind advantage. Birds often freeze rather than flush; use deliberate, slow movements through likely cover to trigger escape flight at close range.

Whole weight

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

Where it is hunted

Listed as huntable in 8 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.