Black grouse make return to Arran

Published on Friday 27 February 2009 21:11

BLACK grouse can be seen strutting their stuff on Arran for the first time in almost a decade.

Fourteen pairs of black grouse have been brought to the Firth of Clyde island in a bid to reinstate the species.

The bird, famous for its complex mating dance, had disappeared from Arran because of loss of suitable woodland habitat and after years of being shot.

The 28 birds were bred by experts in England and will be kept in pens on a farm in the hope that they will breed.

Some will then be released, fitted with radio tags to track their movement, and islanders hope within a few decades there could be a thriving population again.

Kate Sampson, National Trust for Scotland senior ranger, said: "It is great to see the black grouse finally arrive on Arran. This follows eight years of planning and hard work. We will keep the females and a few of the males in specially designed pens intended to mimic natural habitat and reduce stress levels so that the birds can breed in safety this year."

Until the 1950s, the black grouse was a common species all over the island. The last recorded sighting was of a lone female in High Glen Cloy on 18 February, 2000.

Across the UK, numbers have plummeted from about 25,000 males in the early 1990s to about 6,500 in 1996, the last time numbers were recorded. This was largely due to a loss of woodland habitat through intensive sheep grazing, changes in agricultural practices and an increase in predators such as foxes.

Male black grouse have striking tail feathers, which fan into a lyre shape for their mating dance.

James Cassels from the Arran Black Grouse Group, which was supported by the National Trust for Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage, said the birds used to be a common sight pecking at corn stooks on the island. He hopes it could thrive once again.

"They are a striking bird, particularly the male when it struts its stuff, and I think it's right to make the effort. We think we have still got the right habitat. They like woodland edges and blaeberry, and we don't have foxes," he said.