Gamekeepers warn: Capercaillie “threatened with extinction”

A new bird count has shown that the number of males at the courtship sites – the term for typical courtship behavior during the breeding season – has fallen by nine percent this year. This raises concerns that the population of the giant chicken is declining to unsustainable levels.

This year, only 153 male birds were sighted on mating sites in important forests, 15 fewer than in the same period last year.

Land managers said if this trend continues, there would be an estimated further decline of 43% by the next national survey in 2027/28, in addition to the 50% decline in the previous survey.

Capercaillie are one of Scotland’s largest birds and are the largest grouse species. They live in woodlands but their numbers have declined so much that they are now on the ‘red’ list of endangered species.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association believes that public pressure may be the last hope that the capercaillie can continue to survive as a breeding bird in our forests.

Capercaillie are among the largest birds in Scotland (Image: PA)

A new emergency plan for the species is due to be published shortly by the Scottish Government’s nature advisors, NatureScot and the Cairngorms National Park.

However, practitioners within the interest group believe that this does not adequately address what they see as a fundamental problem: the increasing pressure on eggs and chicks from widespread and protected predators.

Numerous predators such as foxes and crows, which can be controlled by law, have an impact on breeding success, as do the increasing populations of protected pine martens, badgers and hawks.

For decades, deer hunters and gamekeepers have been working together with scientists, conservationists, forestry and national park officials in the Capercaillie Working Group to find ways to halt the decline.

Despite initial warnings that failure to reduce predation pressure would spell disaster, the views of practitioners within the Scottish capercaillie group were given secondary consideration.

“We said 20 years ago that the capercaillie would become extinct in our lifetime. At the time, we were told that we had no evidence and that our statements were anecdotal,” said a source within the practitioner group.

Pine martens are among the predators that hunt the birds’ eggs (Image: Scottish Gameskeepers Association)

Their hopes for a more robust conservation approach were boosted in 2022 when a report from NatureScot’s Scientific Advisory Group (SAC) to Scottish ministers confirmed their observations and found that reducing predation would “rapidly improve” breeding success.

Since then, however, former Green Party minister Lorna Slater has called for continued investment in habitat restoration to help the capercaillie.

This raises concerns that not all recommendations from the SAC report will be followed and that the urgency will be lost.

In addition, many land managers in Scottish grouse territory have been encouraged to choose the option of distraction by predators rather than controlling foxes and crows.

Although studies on artificial nests have suggested that diversionary feeding may be successful, capercaillie numbers have not recovered as a result, and a further decline in courting males has now been reported.

“We have dealt with capercaillie populations all our lives in our daily work in these forests. We have seen this dramatic decline with our own eyes and feel a duty to inform the public about the current situation,” said a group practitioner and member of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA).

“Unfortunately, everything we have said in the past has been confirmed by the latest figures. The numbers don’t lie.

“The last chance is therefore for the public to learn the facts without manipulation.

“Perhaps we can only save the capercaillie if the public knows what is happening and asks questions. That is all we want: for people to know the truth.

“With this appeal to the public, perhaps a larger discussion can be initiated outside of capercaillie circles and we can arrive at solutions that the bird needs in order to stay here.”

Influential research by leading capercaillie researchers has found that to maintain populations at current levels, a ratio of 0.6 chicks per hen is required during the breeding season. This ratio has not been achieved in Scotland for the past 6 years, suggesting further declines in the future.

NatureScot has been contacted for comment.