Western capercaillie

The western capercaillie is the largest grouse in the world. It is a heavy, mostly ground-living bird of old conifer forests across northern Europe and the wider Palearctic, from Scandinavia and Finland to Siberia. Males are nearly twice as big as females, and a big male can weigh more than 4 kilograms.

Spring is show time. The male fans his tail, puffs out his chest and sings a strange mix of clicks and pops to impress females. Overall the species is rated Least Concern by the IUCN, but in central Europe the populations are shrinking and split into pieces, and in some places they may already be gone.

Where does it live and what does it eat?

Capercaillies live in big, quiet forests, mostly pine and other conifers, and spend most of their time on the ground. The card for this animal on the globe places it in the taiga of Finland. In winter the bird survives almost entirely on pine needles, which are tough and poor food, so it must eat a lot of them to get through the cold months.

A name from Scotland and a very odd size gap

The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic words capall coille, meaning "horse of the woodland", and was settled in its modern spelling in 1843. The species was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The two sexes differ greatly: males are nearly double the weight of females. The closest relative is the black-billed capercaillie, which lives in the larch forests of eastern Russia.

On the globe

The model stands in the taiga forests of Finland. Look for a big dark bird with a fanned tail, like a male in his spring display.