Capercaillie

Native to the woodlands of central Alterre, the Capercaillie is a large gamebird, the size of a turkey. Male Capercaillie are huge birds, with glossy black bodies, tinged green on the breast, and brown wings. They have a strong, yellow bill and a red mark above the eye. Females are smaller and largely brown with darker barring. They are similar to female Grouse, but have a patch of bright, unbarred orange-brown on the throat and upper breast.

Capercaillies are not elegant fliers due to their body weight and short, rounded wings. While taking off they produce a sudden thundering noise that deters predators. Because of their body size and wing span they avoid young and dense forests when flying. While flying they rest in short gliding phases. Their feathers produce a whistling sound.

Capercaillie are diurnal game, i.e., their activity is limited to the daylight hours. They spend the night in old trees with horizontal branches. These sleeping trees are used for several nights; they can be mapped easily as the ground under them is covered by pellets.

The hens are ground breeders and spend the night on the nest. As long as the young chicks cannot fly the hen spends the night with them in dense cover on the ground. During winter the hens rarely go down to the ground and most tracks in the snow are from cocks.