Deeside Capercaillie population stable.

06/03/2007 00:00:00 Capercaillie are thriving in Deeside woods. These large grouse continue to survive in Scots pine woodlands, having been reintroduced in 1837 from Sweden after becoming extinct in Scotland.

Numbers of capercaillie have been declining since 1990s, but monitoring carried out over the last 5 years has shown that the Deeside population has remained stable, and in some Deeside woods numbers have gone up. Numbers are still insufficient for a long term viable population. Hopefully the work being done by the Capercaillie LIFE project (co-funded by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Forestry Commission Scotland and the RSPB) will boost numbers sufficiently for the population to stabilise. ‘Figures for Deeside compare well as some other areas are still declining, but we are not finished yet. The work by forest managers to upgrade the birds habitat will improve the situation, but it will probably take 10 more years to get the capercaillie re-established in good numbers,’ said Kenny Kortland, SNH Capercaillie LIFE project officer.

Few people have had the joy of seeing a wild Capercaillie as they are an elusive bird. Males are easily identified by their black plumage, white tail and red eye wattle, but the female is more difficult to spot, being a well-camouflaged.