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New research by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) has shown that capercaillie numbers in Scotland have nearly halved in ten years, with as few as 304 birds remaining in 2020, compared to 580 in 2010.
The figures show capercaillie heading towards extinction unless further measures are put in place to save this iconic bird.
The largest grouse in the world, capercaillie were once widespread across Scotland before going extinct in the 1780s.
Following reintroduction efforts in the 1830s, it is now only found in old pine forests in the Scottish Highlands, primarily in the Cairngorms National Park.
Capercaillie are now red-listed and protected in the UK. In the 1970s there were around 20,000 left in Scotland but since then numbers have been declining despite efforts to help them.
During the ten-year-long GWCT study, numbers declined by 48 per cent, with the biggest decline in the last five years of the study.
Dr David Baines, Head of Uplands Research at GWCT, said: “Declines are associated with a reduction in breeding success, which varies annually in relation to poor weather in June when chicks are growing and increased signs of predators such as pine marten in recent decades.
“This has happened despite efforts by land managers to improve habitat, and legally control foxes and crows.
“To reverse the trend and save the capercaillie from once again dying out in Scotland, we need to take urgent action and conservation measures must be stepped up, including legal predator control, reducing predation risk by pine marten and further reducing the risk of bird collisions with deer fences.”
Researchers visited leks – when males put on displays to attract the females – in four areas across Scotland in late April or early May when bird activity was highest. Declines were seen across the capercaillie’s Scottish range.
