DESCRIPTION

Male: brilliant bluish black, light bands and down below the white tail. External feathers of the tail curved in the form of a sickle. Red combs during the courtship display. Female: brown plumage, speckled with dark spots.

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HABITAT

Black grouse inhabit large clearings and edges of northern and alpine forests; the moors, peat bogs, heathers of the hills and plateaus even plains. It is looking for a mixed environment between the forest and the steppe, with open spaces and trees on the edge or mosaic. It can be found up to 2300 m altitude in the Alps.

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WAY OF LIFE

The black grouse is active mainly at the beginning and end of the day. The duration of these two phases of activity is maximum in the spring when the birds, especially the roosters, must devote time at the same time to feed and to parade. During the breeding season, males begin to sing half an hour before sunrise and can remain for 4 to 5 hours on the arena. In winter, the activity of birds is very small. They feed only about an hour, in the morning and evening, spending the night and most of the day under the snow, to limit heat loss. Some individuals are sedentary, occupying an annual living space of 50 to 400 hectares. Other birds migrate seasonally, moving in the fall and spring from 1 to 15 km between their breeding area and their wintering area. Males are polygamous.

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FOOD

The adult feeds mainly on plants, but sometimes looks for small invertebrates. In winter, if the shrub and herbaceous layers are covered by snow, the bird can survive with a diet consisting of larch shoots or coniferous needles and buds. In winter it also feeds on rhododendron buds, juniper twigs and blueberries as long as they are accessible. In spring it adds to this diet flowers and young larch needles, shoots and flowers of herbaceous plants and some red ants. In summer it prefers the flowers of compounds and clovers, the achenes of buttercup or other dried fruits and berries, especially blueberry. In autumn, berries and dried fruits are sought after.

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BREEDING

Polygamous species, the age of sexual maturity of the roosters is 2 to 3 years. On the other hand, hens breed as young as one year old. Males paradise in rather small spaces called "places of song" where they engage in fights more or less fictitious in order to ensure their predominance and to remove potential rivals. The female takes care of the incubation alone. The rearing of young is also the reserved area of the female.

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THREAT

Appeared at the end of the last glaciation, the black grouse had spread widely, including in the lowlands, taking advantage of man-made moors to expand its distribution. The intensive exploitation of peat bogs as well as the disappearance of the moors for plantations, fields, urbanized areas, etc. contributed to a large-scale decline in the early 20th century. Lastly, the mechanical extraction of peat, the transformation of coppice into high forest, and the systematic reincarnation have sounded the death knell of lowland populations. In the mountains, the conversion of coppice to high forest and softwood plantations have led to a similar evolution. This regression, which can be attributed mainly to habitat loss, has been locally accelerated by over-hunting, road construction, tourism disturbances, and so on. To be complete, we must also point out the relationship, highlighted in the Alps, between the development of the workforce and the evolution of the climate.

Proposals relating to biotope and disturbance

• In pastoral areas where pastoral exploitation has disappeared or is in the process of being abandoned, control of the progression of certain ligneous species (juniper, rhododendron, green alder, spruce) on breeding habitats may be necessary to avoid depletion and / or disappearance of the lower strata necessary for grouse.

• On the other hand, when pastoral pressure remains high and may lead to an early loss of grass cover, late grazing until mid-August in breeding habitats is worth considering.

• On the massifs very frequented in winter, a channeling of skiers, surfers, snowshoe walkers and other users can be put in place to preserve the tranquility of the wintering areas. In addition, in the ski areas, particularly deadly sections of cables (ski lifts, power lines, etc.) can be equipped with visualization devices to limit grouse collisions.

Hunting proposals: The application of a hunting plan is recommended. Quotas are determined each year according to the number of roosters present at the opening of the hunt and the success of breeding.

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