Auerhahn Balz, Flattersprung🐔

Photo: Hyla meridionalis · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesGalliformesPhasianidae
Birds

🐔Western Capercaillie

Tetrao urogallus Linnaeus, 1758

The western capercaillie, also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie, is a heavy member of the grouse tribe and the largest of all extant grouse species. Found across Europe and the Palearctic, this primarily-ground-dwelling forest grouse is renowned for its courtship display. The bird shows extreme sexual dimorphism, with males nearly twice the size of females. The global population is listed as "least concern" under the IUCN, although the populations of central Europe are declining and fragmented, or possibly extirpated.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
3
Photos
6
Measurements
10
vs you
≈ 1/23rd of your weight
Also called
Capercaillie
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2024.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
2.72 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
18 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Western Capercaillie

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
2.72 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

By sex

  • Female1.97 kgWikidataQ129059
  • Male3.8 kgWikidataQ129059

Figures vary

  • 2.95 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.26 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.35 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.05 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.06 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
18 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Herbivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Forest
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Generalist
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
2.7 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Western Capercaillie yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderGalliformes
  5. ›familyPhasianidae
  6. ›genusTetrao
  7. ›speciesTetrao urogallus
Full lineage
  1. classBirds · Aves
  2. orderGamebirds · Galliformes
  3. subfamilyTetraoninae
  4. genusTetrao
All 13 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. superorderGalloanserae
  11. orderGamebirds · Galliformes
  12. subfamilyTetraoninae
  13. genusTetrao
More

More about the Western Capercaillie

Closest relative on this site
🐔 Common Pheasant — last shared an ancestor ≈ 18 million years ago.
In other languages
tetřev hlušec (cs), tjäder (sv), głuszec (pl), Auerhuhn (de), глухар (bg), глухарь (ru) … and 26 more languages

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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