Black Grouse
Tetrao tetrix Linnaeus, 1758
Lyrurus tetrix L.: Patev, 1950: 325
Order Galliformes
Family Tetraonidae
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Extinct EX; International: ECS-Spec 3, BeC-II, BD-I, II.
General distribution. A Palearctic species spread in the countries of Europe, to the west of the Pyrenees, Switzerland, Northwestern Macedonia, Montenegro, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldavia, Russia, Northern Mongolia, Northern Korea.
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. In the past a resident that existed in Bulgaria until the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. [1]. In the 19th century it bred in the region of Ruse, in Dobrudzha, at separate places in Rila, etc., and it is assumed that it settled in some regions [2]. It has been reported for the forests between Samuil and Vetovo in 1870 [3, 4], Rila in the valleys of the rivers Kriva Reka and Cherni Iskar in 1874 [5], the Rhodopes in the middle of the 19th century. [6]. It is assumed that the last singular birds were preserved until the end of the 1950s in the coniferous belt in Rila and along the open forest steppe sites in Northeastern Bulgaria and Dobrudzha [7]. The numbers in Bulgaria are unknown. Probably until the middle of the 20th century, it was still found in isolated and rarely visited forest regions of the country [2, 7].
Habitats. The transition zone between forest and steppe in the valleys (in the north) and up to an altitude of 2000-3000 m in the mountains (in the south). In Western and Central Europe mainly in coniferous, mixed and beech forests. It prefers thin forests with open sectors, wet meadows and bogs with bushes.
Biology. Resident with diurnal activity. Polygamous. In the spring males court in the open. Ground-nesting. It lays 6-11 eggs which the female incubates for 25-27 days. It reaches its sexual maturity in its first year. 40-60 % of the individuals survive. A second reduced clutch of 2-5 eggs is also possible. Food: mainly leaves, buds, tassels, sprouts, flowers, fruits and seeds of the spruce and other coniferous trees. The young ones feed on insects (mainly ants) and soft fruits.
Similar species. Wood Grouse or the Western Capercaillie(Tetrao urogallus), the Caucasian Black Grouse(Tetrao mlokosiewiczi).
Negative factors. Destruction of habitats – deforestation of vast areas in the valleys and the foothills and substitution of high-stem forests and mixed forests with monotypical forests of the same age with a poor underbrush; excessive hunting; disturbance – grazing, building and tourism; climatic difficulties – a long, cool and wet spring.
Conservation measures taken. Attempts at the reacclimatization of Vitosha (1896) and Rila (1901); settling of singular pairs of foreign-land individuals [8]. Possibilities are disussed for a long-term programme for breeding captive birds and releasing them in forest mountainous reserves that are not inhabited by Tetrao urogallus (Capercaillie, Wood Grouse, Western Capercaillie); for focused ecological optimization of the region of re-introduction – planting of various herbaceous, bush and woody species, enriching the places in question with formicaries, etc.
References. Patev, 1950; 2. Arabadzhiev, 1972; 3. Elwes, Buckley, 1870; 4. Kovachev, 1894; 5. Radakoff, 1879); 6. Chaykovski, 1903; 7. Boev, 1962; 8. Simeonov et al., 1990.
Author: Zlatozar Boev
