# Black Grouse

*Lyrurus tetrix*

Male black grouse gather at dawn in traditional arenas called 'leks' to perform theatrical displays, inflating their necks and fluttering their wings to attract females.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Galliformes › Phasianidae › Lyrurus
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** decreasing
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Open birch and pine woodlands, moorlands, heathlands, and peat bogs
- **Diet:** Herbivorous, feeding on birch buds, catkins, pine needles, heather shoots, and berries; chicks also eat insects.
- **Range:** United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Central Europe, Russia, Mongolia
- **Size:** Length of 45-60 cm; wingspan of 65-80 cm; weight of 750-1400 grams.
- **Lifespan:** 5-7 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat fragmentation, loss of heathlands to intensive forestry or agriculture, and disturbance from outdoor recreation.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Maintain a safe distance of at least 50-100 meters, especially during the spring lekking season. Use binoculars or hide in a blind to observe, as they are easily startled. If you flush a bird, remain still and allow it to fly away undisturbed.

## About

The black grouse ( Lyrurus tetrix ), also known as northern black grouse , Eurasian black grouse , blackgame or blackcock , is a large game bird in the grouse family. 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...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/d7f682b8-2a23-4dae-8606-0a0d993220e2
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1289697
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyrurus tetrix
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/65472361/medium.jpeg (Анна Васильченко, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.