Western capercaillie: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the western capercaillie lives – recorded in 11 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Tetrao urogallus
Group	Pheasants, grouse & game birds
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	11 countries
Continents	Europe
Mass	3.8 kg (male organism, adult weight); 1.97 kg (female organism, adult weight); 53 g (birth weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Galliformes
Family	Phasianidae

Where does the western capercaillie live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the western capercaillie in 11 countries and territories across Europe.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is a western capercaillie?

Wikidata records the following for the western capercaillie: mass 3.8 kg (male organism, adult weight); 1.97 kg (female organism, adult weight); 53 g (birth weight).

Is the western capercaillie endangered?

The western capercaillie’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the western capercaillie?

The western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is a bird in the order Galliformes and the family Phasianidae, genus Tetrao. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the western capercaillie

The western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie , is a heavy member of the grouse tribe and the largest of all extant grouse species. Found across Europe and the Palearctic, this primarily-ground-dwelling forest grouse is renowned for its courtship display. The bird shows extreme sexual dimorphism, with males nearly twice the size of females. The global population is listed as "least concern" under the IUCN, although the populations of central Europe are declining and fragmented, or possibly extirpated.

The western capercaillie is one of two living species under the genus Tetrao, which also includes the lesser-known black-billed capercaillie.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Western capercaillie (revision 1371626521), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q129059 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).