The capercaillie

During many years the Capercaillie has been very coveted by the hunters. Almost the whole year they live inside the forest passing unnoticed, but their presence is very apparent when the mating season begins in the month of April. In general the males are solitary birds. The mating display that the male capercaillies perform in front of the females, is one of the most spectacular in the world of the birds. It is a most dangerous time for this wonderful bird, since besides being the beginning of life for it's descendant, it can become a tragic death when, every spring, this mating ritual by the Capercailllies, it is taken advantage of by the hunters to knock down them. The mating ritual includes a series of postures during which the neck, the line and the wings change form continually while a strange song is emitted, not of great length, but if listened to in the first light of dawn can impress the observer. May is the peak month in the mating ritual. In June the songs are weakening, disappearing at the beginning of the change of plumage in the last days of this month. A new mating ritual, but not as intense, can be observed in August during odd days and sometimes more intense in September and October. Most of the capercaillies involved in this autumnal mating are birds born the previous year whose age is around 14/16 months.

Often the Capercailllies sleep in the place were they sing or very near, and at the dawn they fly toward the roost with a powerful beat of wings. (Usually the capercaillie begins to sing around FOUR FIFTEEN A.M. at first light). The females begin the approach to the place were it sings fifteen or twenty minutes later. The sequence of the movements that they make to accompany the song has two functions, one is used to intimidate a possible or invisible competitor, because often there is not any other roost in the place were it sing; the second , made around the female, may have a function that you could consider as erotic. A great variety exists in the intensity and the ways with which the ritual is presented. The earlyness of the time helps a lot so that the males remain until sunrise in the morning especially if there are several females present. During the song the males extend the tail in a fan, elevating it, at the same time, vertically from the floor. The wings stay separated from the body and they almost hang touching the earth. Sometimes when the mating ritual is very intense, the tips of the primary feathers play on the floor or the branches, they even play with obstacles when the Capercaillie walks forward, to the point that they almost step on their own wings. The excitement that the males feel at these moments is really considerable, sometimes resembling mechanical toys in a wild dance.

These are LOVES THAT KILL. Click here to see a cutting of regional press (In Spanish):

The song to attract the females places the males in a kind of trance, in that they neither see nor hear during a brief instant. This is a moment of great vulnerability and was taken advantage of by the hunters to shoot them and to knock them down, getting this way their "VALUABLE TROPHY."

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