Habitat and distribution
Tetrao urogallus © Nudelbraut, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
The global population of Tetrao urogallus extends throughout the forests of mountainous and boreal regions of Scandinavia, central Europe, northern Asia and Siberia.
Its UK range is localised to Scotland and centred on Strathspey, extending south and west to the woodlands in Perthshire, around Loch Lomond and northwards into Ross-shire.
The population is found mainly in native pinewoods, particularly the old Caledonian Forest habitat with dense ground cover of blaeberry and heather. They will also use commercial conifer plantations and remain in a few upland oak woods in Tayside.
Capercaillie require woodland that contains trees of differing ages as well as boggy areas providing a good source of insects for chick feeding, and open areas where the male birds can 'lek'.
