Black Grouse
Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group
These young Black Grouse poults (Lyrurus tetrix) were a joy to see for one of our moorland keepers going about his work recently. The species is red listed in the UK under the Birds of Conservation Concern and nationally remains highly vulnerable. At one time in history these prestigious game birds were resident in almost all UK counties from Cornwall to Caithness. Nowadays isolated populations can be found in the Dales and Pennines, parts of Scotland and a few diminishing numbers in north Wales.
As a ground nesting species they are exceptionally sensitive to predation and it is therefore no accident that the robust and stable populations still in existence thrive on managed uplands especially grouse moors. It is without doubt that these large grouse would have become extinct were it not for gamekeepers and moorland management, a fact that seldom gets the recognition it merits.
Black grouse are not just vulnerable to predation. Due to their communal breeding practice of 'lekking' where males meet up on spring mornings to joust and battle for the females or greyhens, this makes fragile populations sensitive to changes in the local black grouse community. These birds will not resurrect themselves without a community of other Blackgame being present. This makes it vitally important to sustain a society of black grouse across a given landscape that can interact and pursue their courtship procedure.
In the Yorkshire Dales we have a relatively stable population of Black Grouse that have benefitted from schemes implemented by the shooting estates and farmers. Seasonally their numbers fluctuate and there is no shooting of the species despite them being legitimate quarry.
From a desperately low 'all of England' population of around 770 males in 1998 they have increased incrementally to over 1400 males according to surveys conducted in 2014. The Avian Population Estimates Panel (APEP) reported in February 2020 that the UK Black Grouse population had increased its range but the population had stabilised. Factors recognised as affecting Blackgame were the increasing numbers of generalist predators, reintroductions of other apex predators like pine martens, increases in raptor guilds and changes to forestry. New tree plantings can offer an extension to Black Grouse habitat but unless this is done specifically for the benefit of the grouse (correct species, spacing, proximity to other habitats) these extensions are often only temporary. Once conifer and native hardwood plantations exceed a certain age, height and density they actually become hazardous to the grouse as predators utilise the habitat readily.
The Black Grouse still remains in a delicate position despite the encouraging survey results and it is important to remember the fragility of these birds because of their biological requirements for colonial breeding. Thankfully gamekeeping and consequential predator reductions are allowing our Black Grouse to sustain themselves and thrive. Their presence and continuity is a credit to the gamekeepers who protect not only the birds themselves but the habitat on which they so depend.
The supplementary images in this post show adult Black Grouse lekking in April and a Greyhen (female) from earlier this summer.