Cotman watercolours tubes, Faber Castel Pastel potloden op Saunders Waterford 300gsm 310×230 Cotton Satiné High White papier

This impressive bird is the male of the Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus). This fowl is about 74-90 cm long (including the 25 cm long tail) and can weigh up to 4.5 kg. The females are about 1/3 smaller and lighter. Also, as is often the case with birds, they lack the distinctive plumage of the male. They are banded light-grey-brown.

At the end of winter, the males seek each other out at their courtship sites to conquer the females. They make themselves big by raising their heads up, letting the wings hang wide and putting their big tail in a nice fan. In addition, they make a kind of double-clicking sound that ends in a hiss. I think it sounds a bit like a bad starting old engine. They are real testosterone bombs, combative and aggressive. In addition to that sound, the males will also fight with each other, beating each other hard with their wings. Sometimes that can even lead to the death of the opponent. Even people will be chased to expel them off their sites!

After mating, the females nest near the courtship sites and lay 6- 8 eggs, the males are suddenly much less present and aggressive after the courtship period.

In the Netherlands they are no longer found, the nearest population seems to be in the Black Forest in Germany. The Capercaillie can also be found in Scandinavia and to the East (Poland, Balkans, Russia) and parts of Spain and Scotland.

📸 Thorsten Schulze via Pixabay

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